By Ashley Southall
For
years, it was a rule in New York City’s jail system: If an inmate at
Rikers Island who had been serving a stretch in solitary confinement
before release returned to the jail, the person would be forced back
into solitary no matter how much time had passed.
The city dropped the rule,
called the old time policy, in 2015, in response to a lawsuit, but by
then hundreds of people had served long stints in solitary confinement
at the notorious jail complex.
On
Monday, a federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn gave preliminary
approval to a class-action settlement in which the city agreed to pay a
total of $5 million to 470 people who were put in solitary confinement
under the policy between Nov. 23, 2012, and Sept. 16, 2015. The lawsuit
that prompted the settlement, Roy Parker et al. v. the City of New York,
alleged that the practice was inhumane and violated pretrial detainees’
due process rights.
Judge
Cheryl L. Pollak, in her order, said the settlement was “fair and
reasonable.” Her decision gives the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Alexander A.
Reinert and Eric Hecker, the green light to begin notifying clients to
file claims or objections.
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Source: The New York Times (via The Empire Report)
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