Suffolk ordered to pay $112 million in damages in class-action lawsuit over unlawful detention of immigrants

A federal jury has ordered Suffolk County to pay $112 million in damages to hundreds of immigrants who were unlawfully detained in county jails at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between July 2014 and November 2018.

The jury verdict reached last Friday found the county liable for $75 million in connection with the unlawful detention in violation of constitutional protection against detention without probable cause or a warrant signed by a judge. 

The jury last week also found that the plaintiffs were denied adequate procedural due process in connection with their detention and fixed damages for that claim at $37 million.

Federal District Court Judge William Kuntz II ruled in January that Suffolk County’s practice of holding detainees based only on federal civil detainer requests violated both the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the New York State Constitution. The court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs. 

Suffolk County appealed and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the appeal ruling that the judgment being appealed from was not a final order. Now that there is a final order, an appeal is possible and will likely be taken. 

The case, Orellana Castañeda et al. v. County of Suffolk and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office et al., is a  class-action lawsuit filed in 2017 on behalf of 674 plaintiffs by LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the law firm Winston & Strawn. It challenged Suffolk County’s practice of unlawfully holding individuals in county jails after they should have been released —because their bail had been posted or their case had been resolved — for the sole purpose of facilitating a direct handover to immigration enforcement authorities.  

“This decision brings long-overdue accountability,” José Pérez, deputy general counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF said in a statement. “The jury confirmed what we have argued all along, that Suffolk County’s actions trampled the basic due process rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.”

The lawsuit does not address current county policy. 

Former Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DiMarco directed that the Suffolk County jail would honor ICE detainers accompanied by a Department of Homeland Security warrant of arrest/removal/deportation and that prisoners subject to the ICE detainers would be “held for up to 48 hours after the time the prisoner would otherwise be released.”    

A 2018 New York State appellate court decision determined that the Suffolk Sheriff lacked the authority to detain the prisoners pursuant to ICE detainers and administrative warrants.  DeMarco’s successor, Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. directed that the practice be immediately discontinued.