By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 11/3/2026
Category: Rikers Island / NYC Department of Correction / Civil Rights / Courts / Accountability
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
Thousands of people who moved from Rikers Island to Manhattan Criminal Court may have been searched twice, once before leaving the jail complex and again after arriving at court. A proposed $28 million class settlement now puts a deadline on whether eligible people receive any money.
Claim forms must be postmarked or submitted online by Nov. 26, 2026. Doing nothing means no payment.
The case, Lewis v. City of New York, was brought by Raymond Lewis and Frederick Ortiz. The plaintiffs allege the city, the Department of Correction and former Correction Commissioner Louis Molina violated constitutional protections by requiring people in custody to undergo strip searches at the Manhattan Court Division after they had already been strip-searched before leaving Rikers.
The allegations have not been proven at trial. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, and the federal court has not ruled that the defendants violated anyone’s rights. Final approval remains pending.
Under the proposed agreement, the city would provide $28 million for class-member payments. The city also agreed to pay $37,500 to each of the two class representatives and $500,000 in administrative costs. Court-approved legal fees, the service awards and administrative costs are not supposed to reduce the $28 million distribution fund.
Eligibility depends on a person’s custody status, the timing of the searches and whether a prior settlement or release already resolved the same claims. The class period runs from March 28, 2020, through Feb. 29, 2024, for people DOC classified as Enhanced Security. For other people in custody, the period runs from Oct. 1, 2022, through Feb. 29, 2024.
Payment amounts will not be identical. The settlement administrator says valid claims will be paid on a pro rata basis tied to the number of qualifying searches each claimant experienced compared with the total qualifying searches claimed by everyone.
That formula turns DOC records into money. It also raises an accountability question: whether the city’s own transport and search records are complete enough to identify every person affected and every search that counts.
People who file a claim must establish their identity. The settlement website asks for identifying information that can include a New York State Identification number, book and case number, date of birth, Social Security or tax identification number, and current correctional information when applicable.
Anyone who stays in the settlement, including a person who does nothing, will release claims covered by the agreement. A person who wants to opt out or object must also act by Nov. 26. The final approval hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2027, at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.
No one should mistake a settlement notice for a final payment. The court must still approve the deal, and appeals could delay distribution. The immediate issue is the deadline. Eligible people who miss it may lose both money and legal options.
The official settlement administrator can be reached at 1-888-808-6084. Claims and the full notice are available at NYStripSearchSettlement.com.
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