The Legal Aid Society, with co-counsel at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP, filed a contempt motion in Nunez v. City of New York – litigation concerning brutality and excessive force in New York City jails – in response to the failure of the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) to comply with a federal court order to reliably track and process people out of intake within 24-hours after entering DOC custody.

Since that time, Legal Aid and ECBAWM, along with the Federal Monitor, have raised serious concerns about the reliability of the DOC systems that track time in intake. For 14 months, the City failed to comply with its obligations under the order. Legal Aid is now seeking additional accountability measures, some of which include: live access to the dashboard system for new admissions, weekly reports from DOC to be provided directly to counsel for Plaintiffs; and regular updates on the Department’s progress to meet its promise of a reliable intra-facility tracking system by March 15, 2023.

“DOC has simply failed to comply with a court order to track and process incarcerated New Yorkers out of intake – an area with no access to beds, medical care or other necessities – within 24-hours,” said Kayla Simpson, an attorney with the Prisoners’ Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society.

“To date, the City does not have basic information about how long our clients are forced to languish in intake, risking harm to the human beings warehoused in the truly inhumane conditions there,” she continued. “This is one of many interventions we will take to hold the City accountable for its obligations under court orders and its ongoing failure to address the humanitarian crisis in the jails.”