A federal court judge has given the green light to a class action lawsuit brought last year against Suffolk County by current and former male inmates over “squalid” and “inhumane” conditions in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility.
In a March 19 decision, U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert denied the county’s motion to dismiss a consolidated action brought on behalf of detainees and prisoners in the custody of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department alleging unsanitary and hazardous conditions at both the medium-security jail in Riverhead and the minimum security facility in Yaphank.
The class action, alleging “cruel and inhumane prison conditions” at the county correctional facility that violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishments,” as well as federal and state laws, can now move forward.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in the case, meaning it can proceed as a class action with the named plaintiffs representing all people who are or at any time in the future will be detainees or prisoners of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and houses in the county correctional facility.
“It’s a great decision,” Amol Sinha, director of the Suffolk County Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which is of counsel in the case, said in an interview Wednesday. “The court recognizes there were a lot of people that were harmed by the county, and that it’s important that they have their day in court.”
The court dismissed without prejudice claims against individual defendants Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco and undersheriffs Joseph Caracappa and John Meyerricks, but granted the plaintiffs leave to file a new complaint against the individual defendants to correct pleading defects in the complaint, which failed to allege their individual responsibility for “the decision not to invest financially in improving” the correctional facility.
Plaintiffs in the action complain they are “forced to live in overcrowded conditions, amidst filth, overflowing sewage, and pervasive mold, rust, and vermin.” They describe: “ping-pong toilets” that percolate fecal matter when toilets in adjacent cells are flushed; “decrepit” showers covered in thick, black mold; mold-covered showers; brown-colored drinking water; pest and rodent infestations; and inadequate heating.
They also complain of an unsafe drinking water and food supply. The tap water in the Riverhead facility is “brown or yellow in color, contains particles of unidentified sediment, tastes metallic, and smells ‘like a cesspool,’ according to the complaint. Food served to the men is contaminated by rodents, pests and foreign objects, according to the complaint.
Conditions at the correctional facility have caused widespread illnesses among the prisoners, ranging from skin rashes and fungal infections to respiratory infections and iintestinal ailments, the complaint alleges. The “overcrowding and pervasive unsanitary conditions have created a situation in which the number of injuries and illnesses resulting from those conditions far exceed the medical resources of the facilities,” the complaint alleges.
The court noted that 111 separate complaints brought by 163 plaintiffs had been filed to date. All plaintiffs, along with anyone who qualified as a member of two classes certified by the court — one for injunctive relief and one for damages — are represented in the class action, brought by way of a consolidated complaint filed by the New York City law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP.
“We believe that the court’s willingness to certify a damages class in this case is indicative of the widespread severity of the conditions at issue, and the large number of people who have suffered injury and can be compensated in no other way for Suffolk County’s constitutional violations,” Shearman & Sterling attorney Daniel Laguardia said in press release issued yesterday. “This is an important step towards obtaining a real remedy for these long-standing violations, and we plan to pursue this suit vigorously on behalf of the classes.”
Spokespersons for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Sheriff Vincent DeMarco could not immediately be reached for comment.
RiverheadLOCAL photo by Peter Blasl
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