By Frank G. Runyeon

Law360 (April 6, 2020, 7:13 PM EDT ) Civil rights attorneys and public defenders sued New York state officials in federal court on Friday, seeking the release of over 1,000 inmates held on technical parole violations, just before one of those men died of COVID-19.

The New York Civil Liberties Union and The Legal Aid Society sued Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state parole board chair Tina Stanford, claiming that the "mandatory jailing" of people for parole violations is unconstitutional to begin with, but holding people indefinitely as the coronavirus "spreads uncontrollably in New York City jails" compounds those due process violations.

The proposed class action was immediately followed by the first reported COVID-19 death of a 53-year-old New York City inmate, who was held for the precise charge at issue in the case — a technical parole violation, which advocates noted could be a missed curfew or failure to report changing jobs.

"We're devastated by Michael Tyson's death. This was a preventable tragedy. If he had not been automatically jailed over a mere alleged technical parole violation, he could still be with us today," NYCLU counsel Phil Desgranges told Law360 in a statement on Monday.

"Our lawsuit demands an opportunity for release for all those detained in New York City jails for alleged parole violations to prevent more tragedies like Mr. Tyson's death," Desgranges added.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the courts have largely suspended hearings that allow defendants to contest the probation violation allegations, leaving them "trapped in New York city jails with no clear avenue of escape from COVID-19," the inmates' counsel wrote in the complaint.

"The injustice of the mandatory jailing of people accused of parole violations is compounded by the near collapse of the parole revocation system following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic," the inmates' counsel said, arguing that the result is a violation of the 14th Amendment and the state constitution's due process protections.

The lawsuit claims that Cuomo could have exercised his emergency powers to suspend laws necessary to cope with the disaster and that the parole board could change the rules regarding when parolees are detained.

"This tragedy would have been entirely avoidable if only Governor Cuomo had directed [Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] to act decisively from the outset of this epidemic to release incarcerated New Yorkers who, like Mr. Tyson, were especially vulnerable to the virus," Tina Luongo of Legal Aid Society said in a statement.

City corrections officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the inmates' federal lawsuit and state corrections officials declined to comment on pending litigation.

In a separate action filed in New York state trial court in Bronx County on Friday, Legal Aid filed a writ of habeas corpus requesting the release of 100 medically vulnerable inmates imprisoned for technical parole violations — its fourth lawsuit in recent days to free their imprisoned clients via applications to free large classes of inmates.

That latest suit follows two very similar, successful lawsuits in late March that freed over 100 inmates held on technical parole violations, also alleging violations of the 14th Amendment and state due process rights "on the grounds that continuing to hold them on parole warrants constitutes deliberate indifference to the risk of serious medical harm," according to the new suit.

State corrections officials declined to comment on the state litigation. City corrections officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the state case.

Local government has also moved to release inmates for public health reasons. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that the city had released 900 inmates in a cooperative effort with district attorneys and state officials.

The public defenders have assiduously tracked coronavirus statistics as a part of their litigation, updating diagnoses tallies and infection rates on a daily basis to bolster their case before the courts that the jail on Rikers Island is the most dangerous environment to be in during this outbreak.

As of April 3, the infection rate on Rikers Island was 5.41% with 239 cases out of 4,422 people, according to Legal Aid, a rate far higher than New York City — with an infection rate of 0.65% — which is considered the epicenter of the global pandemic.

The New York City Department of Correction told Law360 that as of Monday morning 286 inmates and 333 staff had tested positive for COVID-19. One inmate and four staff have died with COVID-19, the department confirmed.

The inmates in the federal proposed class action are represented by Philip Desgranges, Grace Y. Li, Molly Biklen and Christopher T. Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation and Corey Stoughton of the Legal Aid Society.

Counsel information for Cuomo and Stanford was not immediately available.

The case is Bergamaschi et al. v. Cuomo et al., case number 1:20-cv-02817, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The inmates in the state lawsuit are represented by Corey Stoughton, Marie Ndiaye, Lauren Gottesman, Mary Lynne Werlwas, Veronica Vela, Kayla Simpson, Robert Quackenbush and David Billingsley of The Legal Aid Society.

Counsel information for the government in the state lawsuit was not immediately available.

The case is People Of The State Of New York ex rel. Corey Stoughton on behalf of Milton Ruffin et al. v. Cynthia Brann, Commissioner, New York City Department of Correction et al., case number unavailable in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx.

—Editing by Michael Watanabe. 

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