NY 'Frisk' Judge Calls Criticism 'Below-the-Belt'

The federal judge overseeing the stop-and-frisk trial that has put New York Police Department officers in the spotlight says she knows she's not the government's favorite judge.

But U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin says she strives to treat the government exactly the way she treats defense lawyers. The trial in its third month is testing the constitutionality of a policy of stopping and frisking some New Yorkers as a way to deter crime. Critics say it discriminates against blacks and Hispanics.

Scheindlin told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that the city may have engaged in a "below-the-belt" attack by unfairly portraying rulings she has made in law enforcement cases. She says unfair attacks on the reputation of judges threaten the independence of the judiciary. She has been a judge since 1994.