COURT-ORDERED NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND SETTLEMENT HEARING
All persons who are or were detainees or inmates in the custody of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and housed in the Suffolk County Correctional Facilities (“SCCF”) and who were or will be released from SCCF on or after April 5, 2009 to May 27, 2025 (the “Class,” with the time period of April 5, 2009 to May 27, 2025 being the (“Class Period”), except for those persons who were or have been housed exclusively in the facility that opened in Yaphank in 2013.
You may contact the Claims Administrator by calling the toll-free telephone number, (833) 420-3826 or by using the online Contact Form or by mail to:
Claims Administrator - 83221 |
A federal Court has authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY.
YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN THIS LITIGATION.
YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO MONEY FROM THIS SETTLEMENT.
The Notice describes a proposed settlement (the “Settlement”) of a class action lawsuit in the Court under the above caption (the “Action”) against Suffolk County (the “County” or “Defendant”) that alleged violations of the rights of inmates at SCCF facilities during the Class Period. The Notice also describes your right to receive money from this Settlement.
YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM BY DECEMBER 3, 2025 TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION.
THE ABILITY TO FILE A CLAIM ONLINE IS COMING SOON. PLEASE CHECK THIS WEBSITE FOR AN UPDATE.
You may also print the paper Claim Form available for download on the Documents page of this website and mail a completed Claim Form to the address listed on the form.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT | |
| DO NOTHING | If you do nothing in connection with the Settlement, you will receive no payment from the Settlement and you will be bound by any past and future Court rulings, including rulings on the Settlement, if approved, and the Settlement releases. |
| SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM | The only way to receive a payment is to complete and submit a Claim Form by December 3, 2025. You can submit your completed Claim Form by U.S. Mail (postmarked by December 3, 2025) or online available here by December 3, 2025. |
| EXCLUDE YOURSELF | If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be bound by the Settlement, if approved, or that Settlement’s release, and you will not be eligible for any payment from the Settlement. To do so, postmark your exclusion request by September 9, 2025. |
| OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT | If you wish to object to the Settlement, you must file a written objection with the Court by September 9, 2025, and mail your objection by U.S. First-Class Mail to Class Counsel and the County’s counsel by September 9, 2025. You must be and remain a Settlement Class Member in order to object to that Settlement. |
| PARTICIPATE AT THE FINAL APPROVAL HEARING | Although you do not need to participate, you are welcome to participate at the Final Approval Hearing on November 3, 2025, at 11AM ET. You may also hire your own lawyer to participate, but you are not required to do so. |
- These rights and options – and the deadlines to exercise them – are explained in the Notice provided on this website and in the documents available on the Documents page.
- The Court in charge of this litigation still must decide whether to approve the Settlement of this case. Distribution of Settlement benefits will be made only if the Court approves the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved.
SUMMARY OF THE SETTLEMENT:
On May 27, 2011, plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against the County on behalf of themselves and later amended it to include a class of individuals who were subjected to allegedly unconstitutional conditions within the SCCF, jails located in Riverhead and Yaphank. A settlement was reached in February 2025. The terms of the settlement were fully documented and presented to the Court in May 2025.
The Settlement provides for an $18,000,000 (eighteen million dollars) payment by the County (funds that established the “Settlement Fund”). Most of the money from the Settlement Fund will be distributed to Class Members. Of the Settlement Fund: $175,000 (one hundred seventy-five thousand) will be set aside for class administration costs; additional amounts will be used as service awards to the lead plaintiffs and certain class members that actively participated in preparing the lawsuit for trial (the “Service Award(s)”); and up to $400,000 may be used to reimburse Class Counsel for litigation expenses related to this Action, absent further orders of the Court. The Settlement also requires certain changes to the SCCF’s practices, as described in the Notice provided on this website and in the documents available on the Documents page.
The Notice is being sent to all persons who currently, or at any time since April 5, 2009, have been incarcerated in the SCCF (Yaphank or Riverhead)—excluding persons who were or have been housed only in the separate Yaphank facility that opened in 2013. For purposes of the Notice, an “incarcerated person” means anyone who is or was held at the SCCF during the Class Period. This includes individuals detained, housed, confined, or imprisoned at SCCF because of an arrest, a criminal or civil contempt charge, a detainer, or a conviction.
If you received the mailed Notice, you may have been incarcerated in the SCCF during the relevant period and are eligible to participate in the Settlement.
The Court in charge of this case is the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the case is known as Butler et al. v. Suffolk County. The judge for this case is United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields. The Court has preliminarily approved the Settlement and wishes to inform you of the general terms of the Settlement and what actions you need to take to participate in the benefits provided by the Settlement.
The Court will hold a hearing to consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and to decide whether to give final approval to this Settlement. The Final Approval Hearing will be held on November 3, 2025 at 11:00 am ET, before The Honorable Anne Y. Shields, United States Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York at 100 Federal Plaza, Courtroom 840, Central Islip, New York 11722. If the Court approves the Settlement, the Court’s judgment will be final and binding, and payments will be made after the completion of all claims processing.
You may attend this hearing if you wish, but you are not required to do so. If you are a Class Member, you will be represented by Class Counsel at no cost to you.