A federal judge has ruled that allegations of constitutional violations in a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP challenging deplorable and inhumane conditions in Suffolk County’s two jails were sufficiently serious to state claims for violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The judge also ruled that, because the alleged constitutional violations affect all current and future detainees of the Suffolk County’s jails, the case should move forward as a certified class action. “This decision recognizes our allegations that the inhumane conditions at the jails are the uniform product of decades of neglect and indifference by county officials that have harmed and continue to harm thousands of people in Suffolk County, many of whom have not yet been convicted of any crime and are simply awaiting their day in court,” said Amol Sinha, director of the NYCLU’s Suffolk County Chapter. “For too long, county officials have been content to force people to live in degrading conditions that are unfit for a civilized society. It’s time for them to meet their moral and constitutional obligations to provide humane conditions at the jails.”

