What is the Nunez Monitorship?
The Nunez Consent Judgment is the result of a settlement of the Nunez class-action lawsuit brought in 2011 on behalf of current and future inmates of jails operated by the New York City Department of Correction, alleging that the Department had engaged in a pattern and practice of unnecessary and excessive force. Following an investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) relating to the treatment of young male inmates, which found a pattern and practice of excessive and unnecessary use of force, the failure to adequately protect inmates from inmate-on-inmate violence, and inappropriate placement of 16- to 18-year-old inmates in punitive segregation for excessive periods of time, the SDNY intervened in the Nunez action.
After lengthy litigation of the Nunez class claims and the SDNY findings, and after many months of intensive negotiations, the parties reached a comprehensive and detailed Consent Judgment designed to remedy the alleged unconstitutional practices in the Department’s facilities. Following the settlement, the Court appointed Steve J. Martin as the Monitor. Since the inception of the Consent Judgment, the professionals at Tillid Group have been an integral part of the monitoring team to manage the implementation and compliance assessments of the Consent Judgment. Tillid Group’s Nunez team consists of the Deputy Monitor, an Associate Director, and an Analyst. The Monitor, Tillid Group, and three additional outside Subject Matter Experts, comprise the Nunez monitoring team, reflecting diverse professional backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that help to ensure that the monitoring team’s work is neutral, independent, and reasonable.
Consent Judgment, Remedial Orders, and Action Plan
Below are links to download the Consent Judgment, three Remedial Orders, the Action Plan, and other Orders issued by the Court.
Docket 350 – First Remedial Order
Docket 398 – Second Remedial Order
Docket 424 – Third Remedial Order
Docket 550 – June 13, 2023 Order
Docket 558 – July 18, 2023 Order
Docket 564 – August 10, 2023 Order
Docket 582 – October 10, 2023 Order
Docket 590 – October 30, 2023 Order
Docket 600 – November 16, 2023 Order
The Consent Judgment has been modified by various Court Orders, outlined below is a chart of all the modifications followed by the specific modifying orders:
Overview Chart of Orders Modifying Consent Judgment (Docket 376)
Monitor Reports, Remedial Order Reports & Other Status Reports
The Nunez monitoring team issues routine reports that provide a summary and assessment of the work completed by the New York City Department of Correction and the monitoring team to advance the reforms in the Consent Judgment. In addition to the routine Monitor Reports, the Nunez monitoring team issued interim written reports describing the efforts the Department has taken to implement the requirements of the Remedial Orders and Action Plan, as well as other letters and special reports providing other updates to the Court.
First Report for the Monitoring Period October 22, 2015 to February 29, 2016 (Filed May 31, 2016)
Second Report for the Monitoring Period March 1, 2016 to July 31, 2016 (Filed October 31, 2016)
Third Report for the Monitoring Period August 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 (Filed April 3, 2017)
Fourth Report for the Monitoring Period January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017 (Filed October 10, 2017)
Fifth Report for the Monitoring Period July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 (Filed April 18, 2018)
Special Report on RNDC Locking Mechanisms (Filed March 5, 2018)
Sixth Report for the Monitoring Period January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018 (Filed October 17, 2018)
Second Status Report on Horizon Operations (Filed December 4, 2018)
Third Status Report on Horizon Operations (Filed February 19, 2019)
Seventh Report for the Monitoring Period July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 (Filed April 18, 2019)
Eighth Report for the Monitoring Period January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019 (Filed October 28, 2019)
COVID-19 Letter to Court (Filed May 6, 2020)
Ninth Report for the Monitoring Period July 1, 2019 to December, 31 2019 (Filed May 29, 2020)
Tenth Report for the Monitoring Period January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 (Filed October 23, 2020)
First Remedial Order Report (Filed December 8, 2020)
Eleventh Report for the Monitoring Period July 1, 2020 to December, 31 2020 (Filed May 11, 2021)
Second Remedial Order Report (Filed June 3, 2021)
Letter to Court Regarding Present Conditions (Filed August 24, 2021)
Second Letter to Court Regarding Present Conditions (Filed September 2, 2021)
Third Letter to Court Regarding Present Conditions (Filed September 23, 2021)
Status Report on Use of Force Discipline (Filed September 30, 2021)
Status Report (Filed October 14, 2021)
Status Report (Filed November 17, 2021)
Status Report (Filed December 1, 2021)
Twelfth Report for the Monitoring Period January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 (Filed December 6, 2021)
Third Remedial Order Report (Filed December 22, 2021)
Special Report (Filed March 16, 2022)
Special Report (Filed April 20, 2022)
Status Report (Filed April 25, 2022)
Letter to Court and Action Plan (Filed May 17, 2022)
Letter to Court and Updated Action Plan (Filed June 10, 2022)
Status Report (Filed June 30, 2022)
Status Report (Filed October 28, 2022)
Status Report (Filed November 14, 2022)
Special Intake Report (Filed February 3, 2023)
Status Report (Filed April 3, 2023)
Status Report (Filed April 24, 2023)
Special Report (Filed May 26, 2023)
Letter to Court Regarding Update on the May 26, 2023 Special Report (Filed May 31, 2023)
Special Report (Filed June 8, 2023)
Letter to Court Regarding Update on the June 8, 2023 Special Report (Filed June 12, 2023)
Letter to Court Regarding the Monitor’s June 12, 2023 Proposed Order (Filed June 12, 2023)
Special Report (Filed July 10, 2023)
Special Report (Filed August 7, 2023)
Status Report (Filed October 5, 2023)
Status Report (Filed November 8, 2023)
Confidentiality & Use of Materials
Below are orders and agreements among the involved parties regarding the confidentiality and/or use of the documents developed and produced by the Department and the Nunez monitoring team.
Amended Protective Order – Docket 89
Addendum to Amended Protective Order – Docket 293
Parties Agreement Re: Use of Documents (9/19/16 – Docket 290)
Parties Agreement Re: Use of Documents (9/19/17 – Docket 304)
Stipulation and Order Regarding Access to Protected Health Information (5/24/21 – Docket 372)
Order Regarding Access to Protected Health Information (6/5/23 – Docket 540)
Order Regarding Access to Medical Records (9/1/23 – Docket 569)
Protective Order Concerning Attorneys-Eyes-Only Information (9/29/23 – Docket 574)