City agrees to pay $300 million to former Rikers detainees

A settlement has been reached in a case that alleged that the city had violated Rikers detainees’ rights by not releasing them within three hours after they posted bail. The city will pay up to $300 million to the class of affected individuals, court documents show. AP file photo by Kathy Willens

By Jacob Kaye

The city and its Department of Correction has agreed to pay a class of individuals formerly detained on Rikers Island up to $300 million for allegedly failing to release them in a timely manner after they posted bail.

Though the city has denied that it had violated detainees rights by not releasing them quickly after they posted bail, it has agreed to the up to $300 million payout, court documents show.

The settlement, which was reached last month and reported first by the New York Times on Tuesday, stems from a 2017 case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Should it be approved, the settlement could be the largest payout made by the DOC in the city’s history.

“Tens of thousands of people who should have been released on bail and be with their families were instead confined to Rikers, and this provides a measure of compensation to those people,” Debbie Greenberger, one of the attorneys representing the class of former detainees, told the Eagle on Tuesday.

Though the agreement has yet to be approved by federal Judge John Koeltl, who is presiding over the case, it stipulates that the city will pay $3,500 to each detainee who says that their release from Rikers Island was delayed by three or more hours. The timeframe stems from a 2017 law passed by the City Council that requires the DOC release detainees within the three-hour time frame following the postage of bail.

“We don’t believe that law was complied with,” Greenberger said.

The ruling could apply to up to 82,000 people, records show.

Any detainee held beyond the three-hour mark on any occasion between Oct. 4, 2014 and Oct. 21, 2022 is eligible to receive the funds should the agreement be approved.

The delays in release vary from person-to-person, Greenberger said, who added that pinpointing an average release time would be difficult because of “issues with [DOC] data.”

One of the class representatives was delayed by nearly 9 hours. Another was held for 18 hours after his family paid his bail.

James Lynch, one of the original class representatives who died in August 2021, was held on Rikers Island for an addition 23 hours after his family posted his $500 bail.

The delay caused Lynch to miss a scheduled court appearance and a bench warrant was ordered against him by a judge, the original lawsuit claims.

If Koeltl signs off on the agreement, attorneys for the plaintiffs will be able to send out notices to the class and inform them of the decision.

Former detainees who believe the ruling applies to them will have the opportunity to submit claims in the case. The judge will then review them and set a fairness hearing, which is expected to be held in the summer of 2023.

In a statement to the Eagle, a spokesperson with the city’s Law Department said they don’t expect the city to be required to pay the full $300 million. According to the spokesperson, the return rate on similar cases is usually between 10 and 25 percent.

When asked for comment on the lawsuit, a DOC spokesperson touted recent changes made to the agency’s system for processing detainees through the jail.

“The Department for decades has operated on antiquated systems and processes to run our jails in the 21st century and the settlement of this lawsuit brings closure to that era,” the spokesperson said. “Under Commissioner [Louis] Molina’s leadership, we remain laser-focused on leveraging technology, investing in staff, and implementing common-sense reform efforts to improve our jail operations for all who work and live here.”

Prior to Molina’s start with the agency in January 2022, the DOC began using a new bail-tracking system aimed at expediting the release of people in custody who post bail, the spokesperson added.