The Federal Defenders of New York have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons over reported conditions of no heat or electricity in parts of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for nearly a week while temperatures outside plummeted well below freezing.
State lawmakers in Albany said New York Attorney General Letitia James is also considering litigation over the conditions, which she said were “unacceptable, illegal, and inhumane” in a statement late last week.
Representatives for James did not immediately comment on whether the office was considering litigation on the matter, but lawmakers confirmed that she attended a tour of the facility over the weekend.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference Monday that a lawsuit from James is on the table, but that his counsel is evaluating how the state’s involvement could be legally justified since the prison is a federal facility.
Read this at the New York Law Journal.