The Legal Aid Society, along with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, today filed Jones v. Annucci, a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of women prisoners alleging they have been sexually abused in the custody of the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision ("DOCCS"). Plaintiffs seek an injunction requiring DOCCS to take necessary steps to prevent women in its custody from being sexually abused by male correction officers.

 

The lawsuit alleges that a culture of indifference exists within DOCCS women's facilities that allow sexual abuse by staff against prisoners to flourish. The lawsuit also alleges that, despite awareness of the pervasive problem of staff sexual abuse, DOCCS has failed to protect women in its custody by failing to enact and enforce adequate policies and procedures concerning supervision of officers, the investigation of complaints of sexual abuse made against officers, and the ability to appropriately discipline officers.

 

 

Under DOCCS policies, officers are not subject to any greater supervision and are allowed to maintain their job assignments even when they have been the subject of repeated and similar allegations of abuse. Correction officers are not thoroughly searched upon entering the facilities and are able to bring in contraband such as drugs and alcohol, which, the lawsuit alleges, they may use to manipulate and coerce prisoners. Further, the lawsuit alleges that there are no cameras in areas frequently used to commit abuse, and investigations are unprofessional and inadequate. In addition, the complaint states that DOCCS fails to protect women who report sexual abuse from retaliation by correction offers.

 

 

The six plaintiffs in Jones V. Annucci represent the estimated 2,300 women prisoners in DOCCS custody, all of whom, the law alleges, face a substantial risk of sexual abuse while in DOCCS custody. The last time that women prisoners were included in the Department of Justice statistics on sexual victimization in prisons, New York state prisoners self-reported the highest rate of staff sexual abuse in the nation.

 

 

"Staff sexual abuse is a serious problem in New York's women's prisons." said Veronica Vela, Staff Attorney in The Legal Aid Society's Prisoners' Rights Project. "DOCCS claims to have a zero tolerance policy to sexual abuse in its prisons, but as we allege in the Complaint, that policy is zero tolerance in name only. The Department has long known of ways to reduce the risk women face in its prisons but fails to take needed measures to protect the women in its custody. We hope that our case can accomplish what years of individual litigation, arrests of officers and legislative efforts have not."

 

 

Lawyers handling the case for The Legal Aid Society include Justine M. Luongo, Dori Lewis and Veronica Vela. Lawyers handling the case for Debevoise and Plimpton LLP include Amanda Bartlett, Christine Ford and Cindy Unegbu.