Photo: Carmen Natale/ALM

Attorneys in New York have formed an emergency task force to study a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks and develop policy recommendations for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature to consider in the coming months.

The New York State Bar Association convened the panel Monday after the recent attack in Monsey, where five people were stabbed in a rabbi's home while celebrating Hanukkah. That's just one of at least 14 reported attacks in New York over the past month that have been labeled as anti-Semitic.

Hank Greenberg, the current president of the State Bar Association and a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, said they were compelled to take action.

"Of all the places in the country to have to cope with this level of violence, anger and intolerance, it makes you weep," Greenberg said. "We can't despair. We have to do something about it."

The panel, called the Task Force on Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes, is expected to start its work immediately and develop policy recommendations for Cuomo and the Legislature to consider over the next few months before they leave Albany for the year in June. The task force is comprised of several attorneys and judges from around New York.

The panel is expected to analyze attacks sparked by all forms of discrimination, and not just those fueled by anti-Semitic ideologies

Its members include lawyers in public service and the private sector, and judicial officials. Notable members of the task force include Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini, former New York Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, and Justice Ellen Biben, the administrative judge of the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, in Manhattan.

Carrie Cohen of Morrison & Foerster.

Carrie Cohen, a partner at Morrison & Foerster who previously worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, will chair the task force.

"I was struck by the dramatic increase in hate crimes, and especially given the recent attacks, I was honored when I was asked to chair the task force," Cohen said. "I hope our work will help lessen the threat of hate crimes to our country's principles of equality and freedom from persecution."

Before she was a federal prosecutor, Cohen worked in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York Attorney General's Office, where she focused on hate crimes. She's also worked as a civil rights attorney.

"Because of my civil rights background, hate crimes have been an area of great concern to me," Cohen said.

The panel will review factors that are believed to have fueled the recent rash of hate crimes, including online activity and statements from public officials, Cohen said.

"I expect the task force to look at connections between reckless, hate-filled rhetoric, including by those who have a public platform to do that, as well as the presence of hate groups on social media," Cohen said.

The task force will then use that information to develop comprehensive policy and legislative recommendations. Cohen said they'll eye how to help law enforcement address hate crimes and hold accountable those who commit them.

Cuomo has, in recent weeks, revived his own proposal to enact a new state law that would create a felony charge of domestic terrorism in certain instances.

Cohen said she's aware of Cuomo's idea.

"The task force will review the governor's proposal and also consider other legal remedies, especially with an eye toward making sure whatever legislation state lawmakers consider is legally sound and will withstand potential court challenges," Cohen said.

The State Bar Association has positioned itself in recent months as an organization that's willing to analyze the legal issues surrounding mass violence—particularly attacks fueled by extremism. 

The State Bar Association is scheduled to host a summit on white nationalism in Manhattan later this month. The event, which is this year's presidential summit, will look at how to combat white nationalism while balancing the civil rights of certain individuals.

The State Bar Association also has a special task force on mass shootings and assault weapons, which was formed nearly two years ago to analyze gun violence in the country and recommend legislative changes to curb those attacks.

"We live in a time of intolerance when far too many people view the world in terms of us and them," Greenberg said. "The task force is just one piece of a multi-piece strategy to address the issue and assist policymakers."

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