Law Offices of Michael B. Smallwood, PC

09/06/2026

09/05/2026

𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈’𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 — 𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐑𝐔𝐏𝐓

Mayor 𝐙𝐨𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐢 sold his five city-run grocery stores as a lifeline for New Yorkers squeezed by high prices — staples priced 𝟑𝟎% 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 average retail, rolling out one per borough starting late 2027. This week, two lawsuits filed in New York County Supreme Court argue the people actually getting crushed are the immigrant and minority shop owners he claims to champion.

The 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, representing roughly 50 ethnic and immigrant chambers of commerce, says the plan violates state civil rights and equal protection law. Coalition president Ken Roldan didn’t hedge: "𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴."

The structure is what makes it unbeatable: the city owns the buildings, hands them to operators 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, and prices goods 30% under the market rate that every private grocer still has to cover out of their own margin. Coalition counsel Mark Jaffe called it "𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩", asking bluntly: "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘉𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘓𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴?"

That's not a hypothetical — the first confirmed location is La Marqueta itself, the historic East Harlem market surrounded by Latino-owned grocers and bodegas. New York already has over 1,000 grocery stores and 10,000-plus bodegas serving these same neighborhoods, many of them family businesses that can absorb a bad month but not a taxpayer-funded competitor next door with no rent to pay.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

09/04/2026

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑: 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄 $𝟓𝟎𝟎𝐊 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓, 𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐒 $𝟐𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍—𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄

A repeat shoplifter filmed their own confession and posted it, laying out a rap sheet most career criminals would keep quiet about. 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 under not one but two separate probation orders, the self-described offender walked through the math on camera, without a trace of shame.

The numbers: 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 from a single Target location over three years, plus a fresh restitution bill on the newest case that runs 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 $𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. Stack the two probations together and the county-wide ban now stretches roughly two years.

The loophole is the point. “𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘓.𝘈. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.” That’s the entire deterrent California’s justice system produced after a six-figure theft spree—a jurisdiction line a repeat offender can drive around in twenty minutes.

Loss-prevention staff at the stores this person still frequents reportedly know them on sight, and the confrontations have become routine enough that the shoplifter treats them as an inconvenience, not a deterrent. Meanwhile the restitution bill sits unpaid, and there’s no indication anyone expects it to ever be collected.

This is what 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 looks like when a state treats theft as a paperwork problem instead of a crime: half a million dollars gone, millions owed, and the offender back in the same store chain a county away.

𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

09/03/2026

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09/02/2026

08/25/2026

🚨BREAKING: Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered a sharp rebuke to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision limiting nationwide injunctions by U.S. district judges.

In the majority opinion, Barrett wrote:

“JUSTICE JACKSON, however, chooses a startling line of attack that is tethered neither to these sources nor, frankly, to any doctrine whatsoever. Waving away attention to the limits on judicial power as a ‘mind-numbingly technical query,’ she offers a vision of the judicial role that would make even the most ardent defender of judicial supremacy blush.”
She continued:

“We will not dwell on JUSTICE JACKSON’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this: JUSTICE JACKSON decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”

The Court ruled that district judges generally cannot issue nationwide injunctions that block federal policies across the entire country for parties not before the court.

08/19/2026

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former senior adviser to infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty Tuesday to plotting to conceal federal records

08/11/2026

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the discovery of $20 billion to $30 billion in Biden-administration climate and green energy grants parked in external financial accounts, alleging rushed, partisan spending and potential self-dealing involving groups linked to political figures like Stacey Abrams. The targeted non-profit recipients and congressional Democrats maintain that the funds were authorized transparently under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and federal appeals courts have blocked the EPA's attempts to claw back and terminate the grants while legal challenges proceed.