District of New York Approves Settlement in Inmate Case

In this fifth of a series of federal class actions against the City, plaintiffs alleged that the New York Department of Corrections engaged in excessive force against inmates in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments.  Settlement negotiations began in October 2002, and in February 2006 the parties finally reached this settlement, which involves a number of measures covering NYC DOC's use of force policy, investigations, training, monitoring, and tracking.  Judge Dennis Chin examined the relevant factors from City of Detroit v. Grinnell, 495 F.2d 448, 463 (2nd Cir. 1974)--1) length and complexity of litigation; 2) reaction of class; 3) stage of proceedings; 4) risks of establishing liability; 5) risks of obtaining relief; and 6) risk of decertification--and found that they all weighed in favor of approval.  The court did express concern about one aspect of the proposed settlement that required that any claim of breach of agreement could only be addressed by bringing a new lawsuit for breach of contract.  Nevertheless, given all of the other considerations, the court approved the settlement.  Ingles v. Toro, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15779 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 3, 2006).  - L.C.