Litigation over solitary confinement at Rikers Island falls into two main tracks: a settled federal class action, Miller v. City of New York, that will pay up to $53 million to people held in isolation units between 2018 and 2022, and a live fight over whether the New York City Department of Correction can keep using solitary-like conditions today. The Rikers Island solitary confinement lawsuit landscape also includes a September 2025 class action alleging current violations, and a running battle over Local Law 42, the City Council’s ban on solitary, which two courts have addressed with opposite results.
The Miller Settlement: Up to $53 Million for Past Isolation
Miller v. City of New York (No. 1:21-cv-02616-PKC) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and settled in late 2024. The suit alleged the Department of Correction ran what amounted to stealth solitary units, holding pretrial detainees in cells and cages about 23 hours a day without natural light, communal time, programs, or due process hearings to challenge placement.1Cardozo School of Law. $53M Settlement Will Improve Conditions in NY Prisons and Jails The units at issue were the West Facility and the North Infirmary Command on Rikers, plus the “9 South” unit at the Manhattan Detention Complex.2NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement. NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement
The class covers 4,413 people held in those conditions between March 25, 2018, and June 30, 2022. Professor Alexander Reinert of the Cardozo School of Law and lawyers from Cuti Hecker Wang LLP brought the case.3Cuti Hecker Wang LLP. Miller v. City of New York Settlement U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel approved the settlement on December 30, 2024.4Cuti Hecker Wang LLP. Miller et al. v. City of New York et al.
Who Qualifies and What the Payments Look Like
Eligible class members are the pretrial detainees held in those units during the class period; people serving sentences are not covered. Payments run $400 per day of confinement, or $450 per day for class members under 22 or diagnosed with a serious mental illness. After up to 25 percent for attorneys’ fees and costs, the minimum comes to roughly $300 per day, or $337.50 in the higher tier. The average payout is expected to be about $9,000.5NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement. NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement FAQ1Cardozo School of Law. $53M Settlement Will Improve Conditions in NY Prisons and Jails
Amounts may be reduced further to satisfy outstanding debts such as child support or unpaid parking tickets. The claim filing deadline was January 3, 2024, with late claims accepted through March 3, 2024, on a showing of good cause. Payments had not yet been distributed as of the most recent public update, with the settlement administrator advising class members to be patient pending resolution of any appeals.2NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement. NYC Restrictive Confinement Settlement
Catala v. City of New York: A 2025 Suit Alleging Isolation Continues
Miller resolved conditions that ended on paper in June 2022. A newer class action says little has changed on the ground. Catala v. City of New York (No. 820112/2025E), filed in Bronx County Supreme Court in September 2025, was brought by the Legal Aid Society and a private firm against the city and Jail Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie on behalf of four detainees.6Clearinghouse. Catala v. City of New York
The complaint focuses on the former Communicable Disease Unit inside the West Facility and the second floor of the North Infirmary Command. It alleges that detainees are locked in their cells 23 to 24 hours a day, with recreation limited to a single hour in a one-person cage without equipment or human contact.7Legal Aid Society. Legal Aid Files Class Action Lawsuit Against NYC DOC The four named plaintiffs are:
- Arnold Catala, 37, who has high blood pressure, asthma, and a prosthetic leg.
- Cory Elder, 45, who uses a wheelchair and has epilepsy.
- Ben Foster, 33, held at the North Infirmary Command since June 2025.
- Jerry Young, 66, who has stomach cancer and has been held since January 2025.
The suit argues the conditions violate New York’s HALT Act, which caps solitary confinement at 15 consecutive days and categorically bars it for “special populations” that include people with disabilities and those 55 or older. Legal Aid Supervising Attorney Veronica Vela said the city has had “three years now to try to come into compliance with HALT, and instead of making an effort to do so, they just make this sort of bizarre claim that they don’t have anybody in solitary confinement.”8New York Times. Rikers Solitary Lawsuit Motions for a preliminary injunction and class certification were filed in late September 2025 and were still being briefed as of late November 2025, with no ruling issued.6Clearinghouse. Catala v. City of New York
Local Law 42 and the Fight Over the City’s Solitary Ban
Local Law 42 of 2024 bans solitary confinement in city jails beyond four hours in any 24-hour period, requires 14 hours of daily out-of-cell time, and mandates hearings before anyone can be placed in restrictive housing.9Intro NYC. Local Law 42 of 2024 The City Council passed it on December 20, 2023. Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it on January 19, 2024, citing public safety concerns. The Council overrode the veto 42-to-9 on January 30, 2024, and the law was set to take effect July 28, 2024.10NY Courts. Council of the City of N.Y. v Adams
The Adams Emergency Orders and the Council’s Lawsuit
On July 27, 2024, the day before Local Law 42 was to take effect, Adams declared a state of emergency inside city jails through Emergency Executive Order 624 and issued a companion order, No. 625, suspending the law’s key provisions. He cited health and safety risks, staffing shortages, and a warning from the federal Nunez monitor that implementing the ban would be dangerous.11NYC Mayor’s Office. Emergency Executive Order 624 Adams renewed the orders every five days, then every 30 days, keeping the ban suspended indefinitely.10NY Courts. Council of the City of N.Y. v Adams
The City Council and Public Advocate sued jointly on December 9, 2024, in New York State Supreme Court in Council of the City of New York v. Adams (Index No. 161499/2024). They argued that the effective date of a duly enacted law is not a “disaster, rioting, catastrophe, or similar public emergency” and that the orders amounted to an unconstitutional super-veto.12NYC Council. NYC Council and Public Advocate File Joint Lawsuit10NY Courts. Council of the City of N.Y. v Adams13NYC Council. Court Rules Mayor Adams Exceeded Emergency Powers
The Federal Court Blocks the Ban Anyway
The state court ruling did not settle things. On July 2, 2025, in the federal Nunez case, Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued an order blocking Local Law 42 from taking effect on separate grounds. Swain relied on a report from federal monitor Steve J. Martin, who warned that the ban would “only exacerbate the current dangerous conditions” on Rikers and that the law’s definition of solitary confinement “goes well beyond” standard definitions, preventing the department from exercising case-by-case discretion.14Queens Daily Eagle. Federal Judge Blocks Solitary Confinement Ban From Taking Effect on Rikers Swain ordered that the city “shall have no duty to comply” with the law until she directed otherwise, finding certain provisions conflicted with existing Nunez court orders and that monitor approval was needed before implementation.15NYC DOC. Nunez Status Report Roughly half of the law’s approximately 60 provisions remain on hold by the federal court as of mid-2026.16Queens Daily Eagle. City Unveils Plan to Comply With Jail Oversight Rules, Solitary Confinement Ban
The Nunez Consent Decree and the Remediation Manager
All of this sits inside Nunez v. City of New York (No. 1:11-cv-05845-LTS), the federal civil rights case that has put Rikers under court oversight since 2015. The Department of Correction was held in civil contempt on December 20, 2023, for violating eighteen provisions across four court orders, briefly purged that finding, and was held in contempt again on November 27, 2024.17U.S. District Court, SDNY. Opinion and Order Regarding Appointment of a Nunez Remediation Manager
To force compliance, Judge Swain ordered an independent remediation manager on May 13, 2025, and on January 27, 2026, selected Nicholas Deml.18U.S. District Court, SDNY. Order Regarding Remediation Manager Deml began work on February 16, 2026, with authority that in many cases supersedes the DOC commissioner and the mayor: hiring, firing, promoting, investigating, and disciplining correction staff. The city must obtain his approval before implementing key reforms, including Local Law 42. His first year is expected to cost the city nearly $10 million.19Queens Daily Eagle. Rikers Remediation Manager Expected to Cost City Nearly $10 Million Next Year
Where Things Stand Under Mayor Mamdani
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office in January 2026, has taken a different approach. On January 12, 2026, Mamdani signed an executive order directing the Department of Correction to develop a plan within 45 days to bring city jails into compliance with Board of Correction rules and Local Law 42, in coordination with the federal monitor and remediation manager.20Davis Vanguard. Mamdani Overhauls Rikers Solitary On February 23, 2026, the city unveiled a compliance plan covering roughly a dozen strategies, including ending 12-hour officer shifts, reinstating suspensions for staff who go AWOL, and beginning the process of implementing the solitary confinement ban.16Queens Daily Eagle. City Unveils Plan to Comply With Jail Oversight Rules, Solitary Confinement Ban
Because Judge Swain’s federal order still blocks full implementation, the city began testing two pilot programs under Deml’s supervision as of April 2026: one focused on designing new restricted housing units, another on providing due process hearings before placing detainees in restrictive housing. The Department of Correction has started meeting with public defender organizations about legal representation at those hearings. Monitor Martin expressed optimism about the new leadership but said he remains “gravely concerned about the dangerous conditions in the jails.” No firm deadlines have been set for the pilots.21Queens Daily Eagle. City Begins Testing Path to Enact Long-Stalled Solitary Ban
Related Cases Outside Rikers
Two other active suits are frequently discussed alongside the Rikers litigation but involve different systems. Anthony v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (No. 512871/2024), filed May 7, 2024, in Kings County, targets solitary confinement of disabled people in state prisons run by DOCCS, not city jails. The court granted class certification in June 2025.22Disability Rights Advocates. NY Solitary Confinement Class Certification A separate federal suit filed January 8, 2026, in the Southern District of New York challenges solitary confinement in state-run juvenile detention centers operated by the Office of Children and Family Services, alleging that youth as young as 12 are held in windowless cells up to 23 hours a day.23Juvenile Law Center. State Is Locking Kids in Solitary Confinement Without Toilets, Lawsuit Alleges Neither case involves Rikers, and neither is part of the Miller settlement or the Local Law 42 dispute.