Justice Catalyst Fellow Alum and current Associate at ECBAWM Sonya Levitova and colleagues win a major settlement in a federal lawsuit
August 2023 - Justice Catalyst Fellow alum and current Associate at ECBAWM Sonya Levitova and colleagues have won a major settlement in a federal lawsuit. The settlement won roughly $10 million for the almost 1,700 people incarcerated in the west building of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York during an eight-day blackout in winter 2019.
New York City suffered from a “polar vortex” of freezing weather from January 27, 2019 until February 3, 2019, during which the MDC experienced a power outage as a result. More than 16,000 incarcerated people lived in harrowing conditions: often locked in their cells for 24 hours a day without hot water, electricity, running toilets or sufficient food, medicine, clothing, blankets, and communication access.
The government will pay $8,750 to roughly 1,000 claimants for suffering from inhumane conditions; it will pay an additional $8,750 to 69 people with untreated medical conditions; it will also pay $2,500 for roughly 554 individuals who submitted late claims.
To learn more about the original ruling, visit:
https://www.justicecatalyst.org/fellowships/news/2021/07/27/levitova-class-cert
To learn more about the settlement update, visit:
https://ecbawm.com/news/bop-compensate-brooklyn-jail-blackout-case/
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