On January 23, 2019, six indigent prison inmates with mental illness whom the defendants held in secure prisons past their release dates filed this class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of other prisoners in similar situations. The plaintiffs sued the Governor of New York, the New York State Office of Mental Health, Commissioner, Associate Commissioner, and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision ("DOCCS"), alleging that the defendants failed to make available community-based housing and supportive services that the plaintiffs require upon release. As a result, plaintiffs were allegedly held in state prison past their lawful release dates (in some cases over a year). The plaintiffs also alleged that during this prolonged time in prison, the defendants subjected them to solitary confinement and even revoked the approved release status of the inmates in response to the inmates' reporting of violations.
The plaintiffs sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12132, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C § 794, and 42 U.S.C. §1983 for violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Represented by the Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York, the plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief for the alleged unconstitutional and discriminatory practices to which the defendants subjected them. Specifically, the plaintiffs asked that the defendants make release possible by developing the community-based mental health housing programs that the defendants have imposed as a precondition for the plaintiff's discharge from prison, and by creating an effective plan for community integration. The case was assigned to Judge Cathy Seibel.
The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on June 3, 2019. After some discovery, defendant Cuomo filed a motion to dismiss the entire action against him on December 16, 2019. The motion alleged that all claims against him should be dismissed as moot because he had no direct involvement in securing housing or community-based services for the plaintiffs. The motion further alleges that all claims from five of the six plaintiffs should be dismissed as moot because they had since been released to community residences. Defendant Cuomo claimed sovereign immunity regarding the claims of the remaining one plaintiff not yet released.
On August 10, 2020, before a ruling on the motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs requested leave to amend their complaint, which was granted by Magistrate Judge Lisa M. Smith on August 26. The second amended complaint was filed on August 27, 2020.
Judge Seibel issued a bench ruling on the earlier motion to dismiss on September 25, 2020, granting the motion to dismiss as to the substantive due process claim, but otherwise denying the motion. Additionally, Judge Seibel found that the PLRA and its exhaustion requirements did not apply to the Residential Treatment Facility subclass, which includes those who were incarcerated past the maximum expiration dates of their court-imposed prison sentences. 2020 WL 5038525. The court also dismissed Governor Cuomo as a defendant. Judge Seibel ordered the defendants to submit their pre-motion letter or answer as to the second amended complaint by October 16, 2020.
On September 29, 2021, Judge Seibel issued another bench ruling, denying the plaintiffs' Olmstead risk of institutionalization claims, which were filed on behalf of individuals who were released from prison to inappropriate and segregated settings, including homeless shelters. The case is ongoing.
Lisa Koo - 03/16/2019
Alex Moody - 05/25/2020
Rachel Harrington - 10/14/2020
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