Someone you love is at Rikers: what families should know
A federal court has appointed an independent manager over the City's jails, but that case is about the system, not about your family member. What protects one person is a record: dates, names, grievances filed on time, and a notice of claim within 90 days.
You got a call from a number you did not recognize. He sounded wrong. Maybe he said he was jumped, or that an officer hurt him, or that he has not had his medication in four days. Maybe he did not say much at all, because he assumes someone is listening.
You are on the outside, and that is a strength. You can write things down, keep papers, make calls, and count days, all things that are hard to do from a cell. The full rules are on the jail and prison abuse page.
What is happening at Rikers right now
The City's jails are under a federal court's supervision in a case called Nunez v. City of New York, No. 11-cv-5845 (S.D.N.Y.). The short history:
- 2015. The City signed a consent judgment.
- November 2024. The court held the City in contempt on 18 provisions.
- May 13, 2025. The court ordered the creation of an independent Nunez Remediation Manager who answers to the court, not to the City.
- January 27, 2026. Nicholas Deml was named to the post. He was formally appointed on February 17, 2026.
The case is ongoing. It does not mean anyone in that case is watching your family member, and it does not pay individual damages. His claim is his own.
The legal standard, if he has not been convicted
Many people at Rikers are held before trial, on an open charge. That matters legally, because a person who has not been convicted cannot be punished at all (Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979)), and the law measures his claims by a more protective test.
Force by officers. A pretrial detainee has to show only that the force was objectively unreasonable. He does not have to prove what the officer was thinking (Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 576 U.S. 389 (2015)).
Medical care and known dangers. In the Second Circuit, a detainee's claim arises under the Fourteenth Amendment and the mental element is objective: the official knew, or should have known, of the risk (Darnell v. Pineiro, 849 F.3d 17 (2d Cir. 2017)). For a convicted prisoner the test is harder. The official must actually know of and disregard a substantial risk of serious harm (Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)), and ordinary negligence or malpractice is not enough (Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976)).
"Should have known" is the phrase that matters for a detainee. It is why what you told the jail, and when, belongs in your notes.
If you called to say he needs insulin, or that he is talking about hurting himself, or that he was threatened on his housing unit, that call is evidence of what the jail knew. Write down the date, the time, the number you called, and the name of whoever answered. The denial of medical care page and the suicide and self-harm page go deeper.
Two deadlines, one inside and one outside
Inside: the grievance. Outside: the 90-day notice of claim.
The grievance. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, "no action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 by a prisoner until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted" (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a)). There is no "special circumstances" exception. But the remedy has to be truly available: a process that is a dead end, that nobody can understand, or that officials thwart is not (Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. 632 (2016)). He should file the grievance, keep his copy, and tell you the date.
The notice of claim. The Department of Correction is a City agency. A state-law claim against the City requires a notice of claim served on the Comptroller within 90 days after the claim arises (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e(1)(a)), and a lawsuit within one year and 90 days (§ 50-i(1)). The 90 days are counted from the day the claim arises, not from the day he comes home.
We do not publish the Department of Correction's internal grievance deadlines, because they are not in our verified ledger. Assume they are short, and file early.
The federal claim does not need a notice of claim (Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988)) and has three years in New York. One more limit under the same federal statute: a prisoner cannot recover for mental or emotional injury without a prior showing of physical injury or a sexual act (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e)). Medical records matter. The City's 2021 law removing qualified immunity covers NYPD employees, not correction officers. The deadline tool counts the outside clocks.
Isolation, and what to write down
New York's HALT Act, in effect since March 31, 2022, caps segregated confinement at 15 consecutive days, or 20 days in any 60. It bars segregated confinement altogether for people 21 and under, 55 and over, with disabilities, or pregnant or postpartum, and it requires that the alternatives give at least 7 hours a day out of cell (N.Y. Correction Law § 137(6)). If he tells you he has been locked in alone, start counting days. The solitary confinement page has more.
Keep one notebook, and put in it:
- His book and case number, housing unit, and every transfer with its date.
- Every call and visit: the date, what he said happened, and how he looked.
- Injuries: what, where on the body, and whether he was taken to the clinic or a hospital, and when.
- Every call you made to the jail, with the date, time and the name you were given.
- Grievances: the date filed and any response.
One caution, and it is a serious one. He has an open criminal case, and you should assume a jail call is recorded. A person with a pending charge should talk to their defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone, and that includes you, on a recorded line. Talk about the jail. Leave the charge to his defense lawyer. The criminal case and civil case page explains how the two fit together.
Jail and prison abuse
Force and known risks in custody, the two standards, and the grievance rule.
The full page →Denied medical care
When a jail ignores a serious medical need, and what has to be proved.
Medical care →A death in custody
Who can bring the claim, and the clocks that run from the appointment of the estate.
Death in custody →Common questions
Does the Nunez case mean my family member will be compensated?
No. Nunez v. City of New York is a case about conditions and use of force across the City's jails. It produced a consent judgment, contempt findings and an independent remediation manager. It does not pay individual damages. An individual claim for what happened to one person is a separate case with its own deadlines.
He is still inside. Does he have to file a grievance before suing?
For a federal claim about jail conditions brought while he is a prisoner, yes. Federal law says no action may be brought until available administrative remedies are exhausted. The Supreme Court has said there is no special-circumstances exception, but the remedies must actually be available: a dead-end or a process that officials block does not count. We do not publish the Department of Correction's grievance deadlines here because they are not in our verified ledger.
How long do we have to bring a claim against the City?
For a state-law claim, a notice of claim must be served within 90 days after the claim arises, and the lawsuit filed within one year and 90 days. The Department of Correction is a City agency, so the notice goes to the City Comptroller. The federal claim under Section 1983 has three years in New York. If a person has died, different rules apply and the death in custody page covers them.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.