The New York City Police Department’s practice of using information from dismissed and sealed cases for everyday law enforcement operations, as well as sharing the information with fellow law enforcement agencies, violates state law, according to a suit filed on Tuesday.

The Bronx Defenders and attorneys from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton filed the proposed class action in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleging that the NYPD is violating a New York law passed in 1976 that was intended to prevent stigmatization of defendants who were charged with felonies and misdemeanors, but not convicted.