How claims about abuse in custody are brought
A person in a prison or jail cannot leave, cannot choose who supervises them, and depends on staff for food, medical care, phone calls and the reports that affect release. The civil claims that follow are brought against officers and against the government that employed them, and which law applies depends on who held the person: the federal government, a state, or a city or county.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act does not create a right to sue
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), now codified at 34 U.S.C. 30301 to 30309, funds data collection, sets national standards for preventing and responding to sexual abuse in custody, and requires facility audits. The standards are published at 28 C.F.R. Part 115. What the Act does not do is give a survivor a lawsuit of their own.
Federal appeals courts have said so in unpublished, non-precedential decisions. In Krieg v. Steele, No. 13-11402 (April 15, 2015), the Fifth Circuit noted that other courts “have found that the PREA does not establish a private cause of action for allegations of prison rape” and upheld dismissal of a PREA claim as frivolous. The Tenth Circuit reached the same result in Johnson v. Garrison, No. 21-7010 (September 27, 2021), and the Third Circuit did so in Williams v. Wetzel, No. 20-1337 (September 10, 2020). In Bowens v. Wetzel, No. 16-3036 (January 4, 2017), the Third Circuit added that a prisoner may not enforce such a statute “by bootstrapping such standards into a constitutional deliberate indifference claim.” We did not find a published, binding circuit opinion on the point. Claims about abuse in custody are therefore pleaded under other laws.
The three routes
42 U.S.C. 1983, for state and local custody. Section 1983 is the federal civil rights statute used against state and local officials. A person serving a sentence brings the claim under the Eighth Amendment; a person held in jail before trial brings it under the Fourteenth. State tort claims are often pleaded in the same suit.
The Federal Tort Claims Act, for federal custody. Claims against the United States for the conduct of Bureau of Prisons staff go through the FTCA. The claim is first presented in writing to the agency, and no lawsuit can be filed until the agency denies it or six months pass without a decision (28 U.S.C. 2675(a)). FTCA suits over abuse in custody are negligence cases: they allege that the Bureau of Prisons failed to act on abuse by its own staff. Claims against the individual officer are often pleaded in the same complaint.
State tort law. Negligence, battery and related claims under state law can be brought against officers and, where the state has waived its immunity, against the state, county or city. Each state sets its own rules on immunity, written notice and the court that hears the claim. In New York, damages claims against the State itself can be heard only in the Court of Claims.
A fourth kind of case asks for changes rather than money. California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, described below, was a class action brought on constitutional grounds that ended in a court-supervised consent decree.
Who can be held responsible
The defendant follows the custodian.
For a federal prison, the negligence claim is brought against the United States. The government can also take over state-law claims pleaded against an officer: in Holland v. United States, N.D. Tex. No. 4:25-cv-00855, the United States substituted itself for the state tort claims and moved to dismiss on April 6, 2026. Intentional-tort claims can be cut back. In Hernandez v. United States, the FCI Tallahassee case, battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against the United States were dismissed on January 23, 2025, while the negligence claims went forward, according to a summary by plaintiffs’ counsel. The court’s order was not reviewed for this page.
For a state prison, the officers are sued individually under Section 1983, and the state is reached through its own tort claims process, where one exists. In New York that means the State of New York, through the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), in the Court of Claims.
For the New York City jails, the Adult Survivors Act suits name the City of New York, the NYC Department of Correction and individual officers. County jails elsewhere were not reviewed for this page.
A criminal case against an officer is separate from any civil claim, and the two can run at the same time; one Aliceville suit, described below, is paused until the officer’s criminal case ends. Our guide to civil and criminal cases explains the differences. Survivors in these cases often sue under initials, and in the second wave of Dublin suits the court granted motions to proceed anonymously on March 30, 2026. See filing anonymously.
Deadline issues for prisons and jails
Federal prisons. Under 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), a tort claim against the United States “shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun within six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.” If the agency does not decide a claim within six months, the claimant may treat the silence as a final denial (28 U.S.C. 2675(a)). When a claim about abuse years ago “accrues” is decided case by case. Whether equitable tolling can save a late FTCA claim is being litigated now in the second wave of FCI Dublin suits: a March 30, 2026 discovery order in A.L. v. United States (Dkt. 195) frames the dispute as “whether equitable tolling applies to the two-year limitation” and concerns twelve bellwether plaintiffs. A state revival law does not extend the FTCA deadline against the United States.
New York State prisons. The Adult Survivors Act (CPLR 214-j) opened a one-year window for adult sexual abuse claims from November 24, 2022 to November 24, 2023. That window is closed. Any new claim against the State depends on the ordinary limits and the Court of Claims Act notice rules, and we do not state a deadline for those claims without attorney review.
New York City. Local Law No. 50 of 2026 reopened claims under the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act for violence that occurred before January 9, 2022. The law took effect immediately on January 29, 2026, and claims “must be commenced not later than 18 months after” that date, which is on or about July 29, 2027 by calculation. The law states no calendar date, so confirm the last day with counsel. Details are in the Rikers section below.
California. AB 250 revived otherwise-expired adult sexual assault claims for filing between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027 (Code Civ. Proc. 340.16(e)). The statute does not revive claims against public entities, and reviving a claim against any entity requires alleging that the entity “engaged in a cover up or attempted a cover up of a previous instance or allegations of sexual assault by an alleged perpetrator.”
Everywhere else. Claims against state and local governments can carry written notice requirements and immunity rules that run on their own clocks. Our statute of limitations reference covers the general state deadlines.
The deadlines described here are general rules, and most of them have exceptions. The date that governs a particular claim turns on the state, the person’s age when the abuse happened, when they connected it to the harm it caused, and who the defendant is. A claim against a public agency or a public school can carry a written notice requirement that runs out long before the ordinary deadline.
Nothing on this page can tell you your own date. A lawyer who looks at your facts can, and there is no charge to ask.
Active lawsuits involving prisons and jails
Each line below is an allegation unless it says a court has ruled. Status is as of the date given.
Consent decree runs to March 31, 2027 unless ended earlier; second wave of damages suits in discovery with bellwether cases chosen May 4, 2026. Full case page
About 1,600 Adult Survivors Act claims in the Court of Claims, with dismissal motions on roughly 500, according to New York Focus (December 22, 2025).
More than 700 Adult Survivors Act suits against the City as of March 2024, according to Gothamist; the city’s revival window opened January 29, 2026.
Hernandez v. United States: 12 plaintiffs; discovery closes October 19, 2026 and dispositive motions are due November 16, 2026.
Officer indicted March 2026; two civil suits filed in 2026, one stayed until the criminal case resolves.
Several individual suits against the United States pending in the Northern District of Texas as of October 5, 2026.
Federal women’s prisons
FCI Dublin, California
Three things are running at once. The class action, California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (N.D. Cal. No. 4:23-cv-04155-YGR), was filed on August 16, 2023. The Bureau of Prisons announced the prison’s closure on April 15, 2024. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers entered final judgment on a consent decree on February 27, 2025, effective March 31, 2025, and the decree runs two years from that date, to March 31, 2027, unless terminated earlier. The Bureau could ask to end it for substantial compliance from September 30, 2026; no such motion appears on the docket through September 29, 2026. In the decree the defendants “do not admit any liability.”
A first group of damages claims settled in December 2024: $115.8 million for 103 women, according to the National Women’s Law Center. A second wave of individual FTCA suits is consolidated before Judge Gonzalez Rogers under A.L. v. United States (No. 4:24-cv-06580-YGR). The court selected bellwether cases on May 4, 2026, and 294 women have filed or plan to file, according to KTVU (May 1, 2026); no court record of the count was found. On the criminal side, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California reported on May 1, 2026 that ten Dublin officers had been charged and nine had pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Former warden Ray J. Garcia was convicted by a jury on December 8, 2022 and sentenced to 70 months. One officer’s case was dismissed on December 22, 2025 after two juries could not reach a verdict. The case page, FCI Dublin lawsuits, has the full record.
FCI Tallahassee, Florida
Hernandez v. United States (N.D. Fla. No. 4:23-cv-00319-MW-MAF) was filed on July 24, 2023 under the FTCA and is before Judge Mark E. Walker. Twelve women were listed as plaintiffs on the most recent filing indexed, dated June 9, 2026. According to plaintiffs’ counsel, the complaint alleges repeated sexual abuse by one correctional officer from 2019 to 2022 and the Bureau of Prisons’ failure to act; counsel also reports that the officer pleaded guilty on May 26, 2023 to one count of sexual abuse of a person in federal custody. The United States moved to dismiss; on January 23, 2025 the court dismissed the intentional-tort claims and let the negligence claims proceed, according to counsel’s summary. Under a March 2, 2026 scheduling order, discovery closes on October 19, 2026 and dispositive motions are due November 16, 2026. A mediation deadline was extended to July 7, 2026; its outcome is not on the public docket index, and no settlement appears there as of June 9, 2026.
FCI Aliceville, Alabama
Correctional officer Felix Sylvester Wilder Jr. was indicted in March 2026 in United States v. Wilder (N.D. Ala. No. 7:26-cr-00075) on eight counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. The indictment alleges sexual assaults of seven women between May 2022 and September 2024, according to the Justice Department. He has not been convicted and is presumed innocent. A telephone status conference is set for October 27, 2026. Two civil suits name the United States: A.S. v. United States (No. 7:26-cv-00969), filed June 5, 2026 and stayed on August 3, 2026 at the government’s unopposed request, with a report due January 10, 2027 on whether the criminal case has resolved; and V.B. v. United States (No. 7:26-cv-01230), filed July 15, 2026, which also names Wilder and in which the United States’ answer was due October 11, 2026. The government’s position on the merits was not in the docket index reviewed for this page.
FMC Carswell, Texas
A docket search for Carswell and sexual abuse returns several individual suits against the United States, pending before Chief Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas, including Banda-Martinez v. United States (No. 4:24-cv-00391, filed May 3, 2024), Holland v. United States (No. 4:25-cv-00855, filed August 12, 2025) and H.M. v. United States (No. 4:26-cv-00536, filed May 1, 2026). None had been resolved as of October 5, 2026. In Holland, the United States moved to dismiss on April 6, 2026. We have not read these complaints and do not describe their allegations, and we found no primary-source count of Carswell suits.
New York State prisons: Adult Survivors Act claims
The Adult Survivors Act window drew a large group of claims against the State over abuse by prison staff, each pending on its own in the Court of Claims. New York Focus reported on December 22, 2025 that about 1,600 claims had been filed and that the State planned to move to dismiss roughly 500 of them on technical filing grounds. In one claim the outlet described, a Court of Claims judge dismissed the claim because it misstated the year of the alleged assault, treating the error as a defect in the court’s jurisdiction; the claimant’s lawyers were appealing. We found no settlement program or global resolution as of that date.
Some claims involve staff with criminal records. Former Albion Correctional Facility officer David Stupnick pleaded guilty to a criminal sex act in 2020 and was sentenced to six months in county jail; at least 20 women accuse him in Adult Survivors Act claims covering 2001 to 2019, according to New York Focus (June 19, 2025).
A bill to exempt these claims from the strictest Court of Claims filing requirements, S8320, passed the State Senate but did not reach the Assembly floor, according to New York Focus in December 2025; its status in the 2026 session was not checked for this page. The Attorney General’s office told the outlet: “Every survivor of sexual assault deserves access to justice, and we are committed to ensuring that they are heard and respected.”
Rikers Island and the New York City filing window
Women held in the city jails, including the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island, filed hundreds of Adult Survivors Act suits in New York State Supreme Court. Gothamist analyzed 719 such suits against the City and its Department of Correction on March 26, 2024, more than half of the 1,256 Adult Survivors Act suits filed in the city’s Supreme Courts. No coordinated proceeding, global settlement or later count was found. The Department of Correction told Gothamist it has a “zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of sexual abuse.”
A separate window is open now under the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act.
The bill adds a revival provision, Administrative Code 10-1104.1, to the Gender-Motivated Violence Act.
The veto sent the bill back to the Council.
Enacted as Local Law No. 50 of 2026, which “takes effect immediately.”
Eighteen months after the law took effect, by calculation. The law states no calendar date.
The revived claim runs against a party who “commits, directs, enables, participates in, or conspires in” a crime of violence motivated by gender that occurred before January 9, 2022. A person who sued between March 1, 2023 and March 1, 2025 on a claim that fits may amend or refile to add the new cause of action. Whether the City or the Department of Correction can be a defendant under the “enables” language has not been decided, and this page does not say it can.
Named institutions with public litigation
| Institution | Custodian | Main case or forum | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCI Dublin, Calif. | Federal Bureau of Prisons | N.D. Cal. Nos. 4:23-cv-04155 and 4:24-cv-06580 | Decree in force; damages suits in discovery (October 5, 2026) |
| FCI Tallahassee, Fla. | Federal Bureau of Prisons | N.D. Fla. No. 4:23-cv-00319 | Discovery; motions due November 16, 2026 (schedule of March 2, 2026) |
| FCI Aliceville, Ala. | Federal Bureau of Prisons | N.D. Ala. Nos. 7:26-cv-00969 and 7:26-cv-01230 | One suit stayed, one at the answer stage (October 5, 2026) |
| FMC Carswell, Tex. | Federal Bureau of Prisons | N.D. Tex., individual suits | Pending (October 5, 2026) |
| New York State prisons, including Albion | DOCCS | New York Court of Claims | About 1,600 claims; dismissal motions (December 22, 2025) |
| Rikers Island and NYC jails | NYC Department of Correction | New York State Supreme Court | 719 suits filed against the City (Gothamist, March 26, 2024) |
It covers only matters we could check against a court record or a named report as of October 5, 2026. Other state prison systems, county jails and immigration detention centers may have pending suits as well; we have not verified them, and we leave them off rather than guess. A facility missing from this table is not a sign that no claim exists. If you were abused in custody somewhere else, a free, confidential case review can look at your facts, and our guide to reporting abuse explains the options outside a lawsuit.
For abuse in youth facilities, see juvenile detention claims. All institution types are listed on the institutions hub.
Questions we are asked most
No. The Act sets national standards and requires audits, but federal appeals courts, in unpublished decisions such as Krieg v. Steele (5th Cir. 2015) and Johnson v. Garrison (10th Cir. 2021), have held that it gives no private right to sue. Claims about abuse in custody are brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983, the Federal Tort Claims Act or state tort law instead.
Under 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), a claim against the United States must be presented in writing to the agency, here the Bureau of Prisons, within two years after it accrues, and a lawsuit must follow within six months after the agency mails a final denial. When a claim about past abuse accrues is decided case by case, and whether equitable tolling can save a late claim is being litigated in the FCI Dublin suits as of 2026. A lawyer can check your own dates.
New York City's Local Law No. 50 of 2026 took effect on January 29, 2026 and revived claims under the city's Gender-Motivated Violence Act for violence before January 9, 2022. Claims must be started within 18 months of that date, on or about July 29, 2027 by calculation. Whether the City or the Department of Correction can be sued under the new provision has not been decided, so have a lawyer review the facts before the window closes.
The Act's one-year window ran from November 24, 2022 to November 24, 2023 and is closed. New York Focus reported on December 22, 2025 that about 1,600 claims were pending in the Court of Claims and that the State planned to move to dismiss roughly 500 on technical filing grounds. We found no settlement program as of that date.
A civil claim and a criminal case are separate and can run at the same time. In the FCI Aliceville litigation, one civil suit was filed while the officer's criminal case was pending and was paused on August 3, 2026 until that case resolves; another is going forward. Our guide to civil and criminal cases explains how the two differ.
Many survivors in these cases file under initials. In the second wave of FCI Dublin suits, the court granted motions to proceed anonymously on March 30, 2026. Whether a court allows it in your case depends on the court and the request, which our guide to filing anonymously covers.
No. This page lists only matters we could check against a court record or a named report as of October 5, 2026, and other prison systems, county jails and detention centers have suits we have not yet verified. Deadlines and immunity rules differ by state, so a free, confidential case review is the way to find out what applies to you.
- Krieg v. Steele, No. 13-11402 (5th Cir. Apr. 15, 2015) (unpublished) Accurate as of April 15, 2015.
- Johnson v. Garrison, No. 21-7010 (10th Cir. Sept. 27, 2021) (unpublished) Accurate as of September 27, 2021.
- Bowens v. Wetzel, No. 16-3036 (3d Cir. Jan. 4, 2017) (not precedential) Accurate as of January 4, 2017.
- Williams v. Wetzel, No. 20-1337 (3d Cir. Sept. 10, 2020) (not precedential) Accurate as of September 10, 2020.
- California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, N.D. Cal. No. 4:23-cv-04155-YGR, docket Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- Order Approving Motion for Final Approval of Consent Decree; and Final Judgment, Dkt. 473 (Feb. 27, 2025) Accurate as of February 27, 2025.
- Consent Decree, Dkt. 473-1 (paras. 11, 32, 112, 115) Accurate as of February 27, 2025.
- A.L. v. United States, N.D. Cal. No. 4:24-cv-06580-YGR, docket Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- A.L. v. United States, discovery order on bellwether health care records and FTCA tolling, Dkt. 195 (Mar. 30, 2026) Accurate as of March 30, 2026.
- Hernandez v. United States, N.D. Fla. No. 4:23-cv-00319-MW-MAF, docket Accurate as of June 9, 2026.
- United States v. Wilder, N.D. Ala. No. 7:26-cr-00075, docket Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- 28 C.F.R. Part 115, PREA national standards Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), time for commencing action against the United States Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- 28 U.S.C. 2675(a), disposition by federal agency as prerequisite to suit Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- New York City Local Law 50 of 2026 (Int. No. 1297-A of 2025) Accurate as of January 29, 2026.
- Int. 1297-2025 legislative history (passed, disapproved, repassed) Accurate as of January 29, 2026.
- California Code of Civil Procedure section 340.16, as amended by Stats. 2025, ch. 682 (AB 250) Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
- Same release, DOJ Office of the Inspector General copy Accurate as of May 1, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, FCI Aliceville correctional officer indicted for sexual assault of inmates Accurate as of March 4, 2026.
- KTVU, final FCI Dublin officer sentenced (May 1, 2026) (news reporting) Accurate as of May 1, 2026.
- New York Focus, Adult Survivors Act prison claims and the State's dismissal motions (Dec. 22, 2025) (news reporting) Accurate as of December 22, 2025.
- New York Focus, Adult Survivors Act claims against state prisons (June 19, 2025) (news reporting) Accurate as of June 19, 2025.
- Gothamist, the 700 women alleging abuse at Rikers (Mar. 26, 2024) (news reporting) Accurate as of March 26, 2024.
- Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, case summary: California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. BOP
- Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld (class counsel), FCI Dublin case page
- National Women's Law Center release on the first damages settlement (Dec. 17, 2024) Accurate as of December 17, 2024.
- Fuchsberg Law Firm (plaintiffs' counsel), ruling on the motion to dismiss in Hernandez v. United States Accurate as of January 23, 2025.
- Adult Survivors Act (CPLR 214-j) window dates, summary Accurate as of October 5, 2026.
