New York City's stop-and-frisk case hit another snag today when a federal appeals court blocked a previous ruling that the policy be changed. The previous judge was also taken from the case.

Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled back in August that the city's current stop-and-frisk policy, which is widely criticized for encouraging racial profiling, was in violation of the Constitution. Although she didn't halt stop-and-frisk altogether, she did issue changes to the policy, including the appointment of an unaffiliated monitor to oversee training and policy reform. The city appealed both the ruling and the changes, bringing the case to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

It was there that Scheindlin was removed from the case on charges that she compromised the appearance of impartiality by commenting publicly on criticism she received after the initial ruling. She is also accused of bias for ruling on most of the stop-and-frisk cases that have appeared before the court. Although her changes have been blocked for now, nothing more will be determined until a decision has been reached on the city's appeal.

[image via AP]