A coalition of legal groups say they have filed papers to hold the NYC Department of Corrections (DOC) in contempt for a second time for failing to provide those imprisoned with adequate medical care.
The motion was filed jointly by the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services and Milbank LLP in an effort to hold DOC accountable for allowing inmates to miss scheduled medical appointments. According to the groups, there were at least 12,354 incidents of denied access to medical care from February to October alone.
The coalition is seeking a $250 fine for every missed medical appointment from February to October 2022 — totaling over $3.08 million.
“Despite having already been held in contempt by a court, DOC has denied thousands more people access to medical appointments, and the Department must be held in contempt once again for its continued failure to abide by explicit legal obligations and various court orders. People in the jails continue to suffer countless harms from delay and outright denial of access to injury care, chronic care, and critical medications, contributing to the highest death rate in DOC facilities in over 25 years. Given the DOC’s persistent unwillingness to ensure the health and safety of people in its custody, all criminal legal stakeholders must work to facilitate the decarceration of local jails immediately,” the groups said in a joint statement.
The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services and Milbank LLP believe that the numbers of missed appointments do not include absences due to lockdowns and other emergencies. They also charge that DOC not only failed to provide escorts for health screenings, but the legal teams also allege that DOC falsified refusals to attend clinic appointments in an attempt to skirt responsibility.
The motion, if approved, would be the second time DOC has been found in contempt. In Dec. 3, 2021, the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of the Bronx found that DOC had failed to provide medical care for those in city jails. It was mandated that DOC address this failure and provide access to medical services—a remedy was supposed to be made one week from the court order.
Under the law, DOC is required to allow incarcerated individuals access to a sick call on weekdays, provide sufficient security for an individual to move to and from health services in jails, and to not prohibit or delay those in custody access to care, appropriate treatment, or medical dental services. However, after the 2021 court ruling, DOC did not remedy the situation within the designated timeframe.
Legal Aid filed a motion for contempt of court in February 2022. DOC was found in contempt and forced to pay $200,000 in fines to those who were denied medical access in local jails (as well as attorney’s fees and costs) in Aug. 2022. DOC appealed this order in September.
DOC has still yet to comply with the court order. Now, Legal Aid has once again filed another motion of contempt, pointing to DOC’s neglect. Legal Aid cites that the 21 individuals have perished in New York City jails, the highest the death toll has been in the past 25 years.
According to the NYC Board of Correction reports, many of these deaths are related to DOC’s failure to provide medical care.
In response to this motion, the New York City Law Department states that the DOC is doing its best to handle the immense number of incarcerated individuals’ scheduled medical appointments.
