Though he was catapulted into national fame with his work on the
Louima case, he's been known throughout the Haitian community since the
early 1970s when he began practicing law in a storefront in Bedford
Stuyvesant, handling immigration and other civil and criminal cases for
the many Haitians moving to Brooklyn at that time. For the last 25
years, he has personally specialized in personal injury litigation,
including police brutality, which led to his becoming a civil rights
lawyer, and representing Rev. Sharpton. But even today, a substantial
number of the cases his firm Rubenstein & Rynecki accepts, be they civil
or criminal, involve representing people from the Caribbean.
All the while, Sanford Rubenstein--Sandy, as his friends
affectionately call him--has been deeply involved in issues regarding
social justice. This includes supporting reparations to descendants of
enslaved Africans. With refreshing simplicity and clarity he stated:
As a Jewish American who supported reparations for those who
suffered at the hands of the Nazis in the concentration camps, how
can I not support reparations for Black Americans?
How much Rubenstein is respected can be seen through the vast array
of awards that grace the walls of his office at 16 Court Street. They
run the gamut from the Haitian Friendship Award "To demonstrate
the appreciation of the Haitian people in the fight for freedom and
democracy in Haiti" to Man of the Year from the Brooklyn
Democrats. Recently he received the Joseph Papp Racial Harmony Award
from the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding, and one that means the most
to him from the National Action Network, presented by Rev. Al Sharpton,
the Keeper of the Dream Award.
Even more impressive than seeing the award plaques is hearing the
reasons why he received them. For example, Supreme Court Judge
Reynold Mason, President of the Caribbean American Bar Association,
spoke of why they recently gave him their highest honor, the Eagle
Award:
He's the one guy not from our community who has come in and
gotten involved and really helped us with our problems. He has taken
many cases not for money but on principle. We appreciate that, and
we wanted to hold him up and say, "Here's a guy that the rest of you
should be like!"
Mason continued:
Sandy is well known in our community, especially for the Louima
case, but there's so much more he's done that people don't know.
There's a lot of lawyers out there who are successful, but to give
something back and to keep giving back--that is really wonderful and
we recognize that.
THE YOUNGER YEARS
Sanford Rubenstein was born in Brooklyn, but when he was in the third
grade, his family moved to the Ravenswood Housing Projects in Queens.
Growing up in the projects gave him the opportunity to live and go to
school in a multi-racial, multi-cultural setting. To this he attributes
his like for and ease with people of diverse races and backgrounds
throughout his life.
At 17 he started working his way through Rockland Community College,
and then the State University of Oswego where he received his BA Cum
Laude in psychology. After that he went on a fellowship to City College
Baruch School where he received his MBA in marketing management. He
entered their doctoral program for a PhD in business, completed the
course work but never completed his dissertation because he decided to
go to law school instead.
STUDYING LAW, TEACHING AND PROTESTING
Astonishing
energy coupled with a love for social justice became more evident in
Rubenstein during the late 1960s. While studying at Brooklyn Law School
at night, he taught public school in Harlem during the day.
This was also the tumultuous time of the Vietnam War. Though his
grueling schedule made it difficult, he took part in protests against
the war and was even pepper sprayed at one demonstration in Washington,
D.C. Said Rubenstein:
I felt it was so important to protest; I had to participate. I
agree with the saying, "If you're not part of the solution, you're
part of the problem."
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FLEDGLING LAW CLERK
During his last year of Law School, Rubenstein took a job as a law
clerk at the storefront office of Jacobs, Jacobs and Giulini on Throop
Avenue in Bed Stuy. There he did a little of everything, helping the
attorneys represent the growing Haitian community in all sorts of
matters--auto cases, business, real estate, commercial, and immigration
matters.
When he was admitted to the bar in 1972, one of the first persons he
represented was a Jamaican man facing deportation. This case went all
the way to the US Supreme Court. Another very serious matter he tried
right out of law school was a criminal case in defense of a man wrongly
accused of selling heroin. "When he was acquitted," Rubenstein said, "I
think the only person more surprised than him was me!"
As Judge Joseph Levine, Civil Court Judge at that time, stated:
Rubenstein was a very fine young attorney when he started. He did
great. He was always ready to try his cases and he was always
prepared. And I've watched him mature and develop even more along
the way.
Soon Rubenstein decided to concentrate on personal injury cases
because, as he said:
Not only can we get recoveries for people in terms of money
damages, but also create an opportunity to change things for the
better. For example, if you handle a case against the tire
manufacturers for making defective tires, as I am now, you can
change the way tires are made so they will be safer. You do a social
good by letting the manufacturers of products know that if they
don't make their products safe, there's someone who will hold them
accountable. Or when you represent victims like the woman who
watched in horror as two of her children were killed when she was
crossing a street because the red/green light interval was too
short--I was fighting so that what happened to them won't happen to
anyone else. That is very important to me as well as a successful
jury verdict in that case of $25 million.
The law firm of Rubenstein & Rynecki also handles criminal cases with
former Supreme Court Justice Ronald Aiello who is council to the firm
heading up that effort.
WORK UPSTATE BRINGS HIM CLOSER TO HAITIAN COMMUNITY
While he continued his law practice in Brooklyn, in 1979 Sanford
Rubenstein was elected to the Rockland County Legislature where he
served for 20 years as Vice Chairman, Majority Leader, and Chairman of
the Budget Committee. But far from taking him away from the Caribbean
community, it became the means of bringing him even closer.
Around 1990 Rubenstein met the fiery Haitian radio host Wilson Desir.
Desir knew of Rubenstein and thought that he might be able to help get
the US to send observer teams to Haiti for the election in which
Aristide was running for the first time.
Through Rubenstein, Desir and others from the Haitian community
obtained a meeting with the head of the Haitian Desk at the State
Department who, in the past, had never responded to requests from the
Haitian community. Now he greeted them with respect and treated Wilson
like a diplomat, showing him the esteem he deserved as a leader of the
Haitian community. And, as requested, observers were sent to oversee the
election.
Stated Rubenstein:
When Aristide was elected President of Haiti, Wilson Desir was
named Council General for Haiti in New York, and I became an
attorney for the Haitian Council General's office, working on
whatever problems Wilson gave me. And Wilson became a very dear and
cherished friend.
Around that time Rubenstein represented a Haitian cabdriver, Jacque
Camille, wrongfully shot by the police. Rubenstein obtained a settlement
of $1.5 million for him, requiring the police officer to personally pay
part of the settlement in order to send a message of accountability to
all police officers.
And it isn't only the Haitian community that's been the recipient of
Rubenstein's expertise. Stated community leader and activist Fernando
Mateo, spokesman for the Latino community:
Where the underprivileged communities need help, Attorney
Rubenstein is always there. We in the Latino community greatly
appreciate what he does on our behalf. He represents us
professionally, with dignity and without self-interest. He's just
one of those people that cares, that feels for others. He's out
there fighting for the rights of all people.
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF ABNER LOUIMA
In August of 1997, the entire nation was shocked by the ruthless
assault on Abner Louima in Brooklyn's 70th Precinct stationhouse, an
attack so brutal he almost died. Fortunately, he lived to tell the world
the truth about his torture. Before it was all over, not only had
Rubenstein played a crucial roll in obtaining for him a $7.125 million
settlement from the City--the largest ever in a police brutality
case--he also played a part in making history by forcing the Police
Benevolent Association to pay $1.625 million in damages and to fund an
independent council to whom police officers who witness brutality by
other officers can go in confidence to help break down the blue wall of
silence. This was the first case in the nation in which a police union
paid damages to a victim of police brutality.
When Sanford Rubenstein was asked by Louima to represent him,
Rubenstein knew that here was a man who, in one harrowing evening, had
his whole life permanently and irrevocably changed. Little did he know,
however, that this case was also going to change his own life, take him
to a whole new level of social activism.
Samuel Nichols, Louima's cousin and Assistant Pastor of the
Evangelical Crusade Christian Church in Brooklyn who was Louima's
spokesperson during his long hospital stay, stated:
From the beginning, our relationship with Rubenstein went beyond
the client-lawyer relationship. He really took this case to heart
and went past performing what he was supposed to do as a lawyer.
After Louima retained him, it was a real eye-opener for Rubenstein to
learn of the fear for their children's lives that even corporate
executives, owners of their own companies and multi-millionaires in the
African American and Caribbean community felt. Said Rubenstein:
I learned that successful Black executives are more afraid about
their children, especially their teenage boys, being brutalized by
the police than they are about them being assaulted by common
criminals! It gave me an understanding of the problems people of
color in our community have to live with which I never had before.
CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH REV. AL SHARPTON
It all began when Rev. Sharpton appeared on CNN's Larry King Live
soon after the assault on Louima. King was race baiting--trying to get
Rev. Sharpton to say something bad about the new white Jewish lawyer
Abner Louima had added to his team. But far from rising to the bait,
Rev. Sharpton, who knew of Rubenstein's track record in the community,
said in a very friendly manner, "You mean Brother Rubenstein?"
Shortly thereafter both Rev. Sharpton and Rubenstein were at a march
in support of Abner Louima and against police brutality, when, stated
Rubenstein:
I walked over to him and said, "Rev. Sharpton, excuse me--if I
can introduce myself, I'm Brother Rubenstein." He took my arm and we
ended up marching together leading the demonstration, which crossed
the Brooklyn Bridge, for four hours. And that was when he began
giving me an education on the history of police brutality and racial
profiling in the City and Nation--and I've been getting an education
from him ever since!
His respect and concern for Rev. Sharpton is evident in Rubenstein's
voice when he talks about him. He sounded proud yet humble as he said:
The first one who ever called me a Civil Rights lawyer was Rev.
Sharpton. I take it very seriously and consider it a badge of honor
to be called that. Rev. Sharpton gave me the opportunity to become
the prominent Civil Rights lawyer I am today, giving me the chance
to work to improve the quality of life for people. That is one of
the things I try to do, and I thank Rev. Sharpton for the
opportunity.
90 DAYS IN JAIL
When Rev. Sharpton, Roberto Ramirez, Jose Rivera and Adolfo Carrion
were sentenced for protesting Navy bombing in Vieques, Rubenstein--who
was in Puerto Rico with Rev. Sharpton to attend what they thought was
merely a court appearance but turned out to be a trial and
sentencing--told Rev. Sharpton, "Rev., if you have to do the 90 days,
I'm there with you." Continued Rubenstein:
I made a promise to be there with him, and I was. And I felt it
was important, just as he did, because it would make a difference
for the people, particularly the children, of Vieques. I felt that
by being with him during his days in prison I was able to join him
in his commitment to stop the Navy's bombing exercises which I
believe are morally wrong.
Fortunately, during that time Rubenstein's partner, Scott Rynecki,
was willing to work extra hard in conjunction with their firm's large
staff of attorneys and paraprofessionals, enabling Rubenstein to spend
just about every day from eight in the morning until eight at night in
the prison with Rev. Sharpton. While there, they discussed many
issues--including Rev. Sharpton's possible bid for the presidency.
As sorry as he was that Rev. Sharpton had to do the time, Rubenstein
was glad to get to know him better during his incarceration. Stated
Rubenstein:
I had the opportunity to see Rev. Sharpton's inner strength, to
see how courageous he is. And I saw his extraordinary intelligence,
even at that time of stress, and his commitment to the movement.
And he said of Rev. Sharpton's first action upon being released,
leading a demonstration from the prison to the site in Sunset Park where
a Dominican family was run over and killed by an off-duty policeman:
It was so appropriate for Sharpton. He wasn't thinking about his
release; he was thinking about this terrible tragedy in the
community. It was an honor to spend as much time with him as I did
during his incarceration.
Said Rev. Sharpton of Rubenstein:
I think that he has an unselfish and unique commitment to social
justice and has proven in time to be a valuable ally to the cause of
civil and human rights.
He has asked Rubenstein to be council to his committee, chaired by
Charles Ogletree and Cornel West, which is exploring his possible
presidential bid. Recently they also made swings together through New
Hampshire and Iowa, states where the two first presidential primaries
are held.
Rubenstein has also earned the respect of members of Rev. Sharpton's
civil rights organization, the National Action Network. Two men who have
accompanied Rev. Sharpton and Rubenstein to Puerto Rico, Sudan and
Israel are the National Field Director, Dedrick Muhammad, and Eddie
Harris, the Director of NANCOM, the National Action Network's
Communications Group. Muhammad said of Rubenstein:
Here's someone who had made millions of dollars in his law
practice before he met Sharpton, someone who has no personal stake
in the social justice movement. He doesn't have to personally face
the problem of police brutality or racial profiling. But through the
Louima case and then meeting Rev. Sharpton, he saw the importance of
the work because of the effect it has on people's lives.
And Harris stated:
I think that he's very much in the tradition of Rabbi Herschel
and other Jewish activists who marched with Martin Luther King and
fought for human rights. We prize him as a very important ally in
our struggle.
HAITIAN ART COLLECTION
Along
with his in-the-trenches association with the Black and Caribbean
communities, Sanford Rubenstein also has one of the largest collections
of modern Haitian art in the world.
It includes works by Bernard Sejourme, Philippe Dodard, Edouard
Duval-Carrie, Andre Pierre, and many others.
He has also sponsored Haitian artists such as Edouard Duval-Carrie
who said:
The only words I can think
of for Sanford Rubenstein are generous and very supportive. I was
invited to do a piece for the Atlanta Olympics and I needed the
funding to pour 30 bronzes representing the Voodoo deities. He
funded it. And not only that, he later donated most of that work to
the Miami Art Museum.
When it comes to the struggle for justice which takes in many
things--including enabling people to carry on their proud Caribbean
artistic heritage--we each bring what we have, what we are to the
table. Sanford Rubenstein could have chosen so easily to remain above
the fray,
locked
in the comfortable, opulent life style he had carved out for himself.
Instead, he stepped out of his box and joined those who are trying to
make this world a better place for everyone. For that, the Caribbean
community respects and is grateful to him.
By Donna Lamb
When people in the
Caribbean Community have a problem or need legal representation by a
person who is not only a top-notch lawyer but also sensitive to and
respectful of their culture, who do they turn to? Attorney Sanford
Rubenstein. That's whom Abner Louima turned to
when he was viciously attacked in the bathroom of a Brooklyn Precinct
stationhouse in 1997. And now, with the overturn of some
verdicts
in the case, it is Rubenstein's face we see on the TV and in the
newspapers as he advocates on behalf of Louima. He and Rev. Al Sharpton
have been on the talk show circuit together, appearing on such shows as
NY1's Inside City Hall, CNN's Aaron Brown, and others,
calling for justice.