BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (PIX11) — If someone’s been ticketed by law enforcement for a minor infraction like littering, disorderly conduct, or even having an unleashed dog, and the person never appeared in court and paid a penalty, they could be arrested at any time. That’s the case even if the offense happened years ago.<\/p>\n
To prevent arrests like that, a special one-day court is being held in the heart of Brooklyn on Saturday that’s open to anyone from the five boroughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Discover more local reporting on our homepage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The court will be set up in the Bridge Street AME Church, at the intersection of Stuyvesant and Jefferson Avenues.\u00a0<\/p>\n There on Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., a full courtroom, with a judge, clerks, and lawyers from both Legal Aid and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, will be set up.\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea behind the event is to take the courthouse that’s located in northwest Brooklyn and open on weekdays and bring it into a residential neighborhood in Central Brooklyn on the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s part of an effort to get outstanding court summonses cleared up, as Brooklyn District Attorney Erik Gonzalez explained.<\/p>\n “If someone gets stopped for a traffic citation” by a police officer, said Gonzalez, the officer has to say, if the person has an outstanding summons, even for a minor offense, “Unfortunately, I have to arrest you. You have a summons.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Gonzalez, in conjunction with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, set up the special court. He said that someone who’s been ticketed in the past for infractions as minor as unreasonable noise, trespassing, marijuana possession, consuming alcohol in public, or even spitting, among other offenses, needs to get them dealt with.\u00a0<\/p>\n