In a recent decision, U.S. District Court Judge Meredith A. Vacca, has granted class certification in a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
This lawsuit, filed in the Western District of New York in 2021 by Disability Rights Advocates and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York on behalf of five individual plaintiffs, alleges that the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) denies mobility-related accommodations to people with disabilities who are incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility, preventing them from accessing Five Points’ programs, services, and activities.
Five Points typically houses more than 100 people who are elderly, or have disabilities that affect their mobility.
The certified class consists of all people with mobility disabilities who are currently incarcerated, or will be incarcerated, at Five Points in Seneca County.
Vacca found that the plaintiffs adequately alleged common questions with regard to the class, including “whether defendants’ facility-wide policies and practices discriminate against people with mobility disabilities.”
She specifically pointed to plaintiffs’ allegations about Five Points “failing to ensure continuity of accommodations upon arrival at Five Points, limiting wheelchair access to a shared bank, and utilizing a deficient (inmate mobility assistant) program.”
By certifying the class, Vacca recognized that, “plaintiffs are challenging systemic failures of defendants at Five Points, which can be proven through generalized class-wide evidence,” according to the news release.
Because the entire class is subject to the same deficient facility-wide policies and practices surrounding mobility-related accommodations at Five Points, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief to require DOCCS to change its policies and practices and ensure that class members have the accommodations they need to safely travel throughout Five Points and to access all of the same programs, services, and activities as non-disabled individuals, according to the plaintiffs.
Vacca’s order enables the lawsuit to move forward on behalf of, not just the plaintiffs, but all people with mobility disabilities who are, or will be, incarcerated at Five Points.
“We are so pleased the Court has certified the class in this case. The systemic problems for people with disabilities at Five Points require a systemic solution, and this decision brings our clients one step closer to such relief,” said Hallie Mitnick, senior staff attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services.
“This decision affirms the systemic nature of the violations at Five Points — something our clients know all too well — and we will keep fighting for everyone with mobility disabilities who are currently or will be incarcerated at Five Points, and who are not able to access the everyday programs and services to which they are entitled,” said Eliana Fisher, Wolinsky Fellowship Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates.
Disability Rights Advocates is the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center. DRA’s mission is to advance the rights, inclusion, and equity of people with disabilities nationwide through high-impact litigation, education, and advocacy.
Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York is a non-profit legal services organization founded in 1976 to provide indigent incarcerated New Yorkers access to the courts.
There are over 34,000 individuals incarcerated in 41 prisons across New York State, and PLS responds to more than 10,000 requests for assistance annually.
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