A group of children and young adults currently and formerly detained in New York's juvenile justice system are accusing state officials of subjecting children to prolonged solitary confinement in violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal disability law, in a proposed class action filed in federal court.

The complaint, filed Thursday, claims the New York State Office of Children and Family Services routinely locks young prisoners — including children as young as 12 — alone in small, barren cells for up to 20 to 24 hours a day "for weeks and sometimes months on end."

"OCFS regularly subjects youth to near-total, around-the-clock isolation; deprives them of education, programming, and mental stimulation; only permits 'recreation' alone in empty gyms; provides unreliable access to drinking water; and imposes toilet restrictions so severe that youth are often forced to defecate and urinate in buckets and bottles in their cells," the complaint says.

New York banned solitary confinement for prisoners 21 and under in 2021, and the federal government also prohibits the practice. Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has signed executive orders directing city agencies to implement Local Law 42, which bans long stretches of solitary confinement in city jails.

The proposed class action, brought jointly by the Legal Aid Society and attorneys with Jenner & Block LLP working pro bono, targets conditions at five OCFS-operated secure-placement facilities in Columbia, Orange, Cayuga, Monroe and Tompkins counties. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say people 21 and under at those facilities are being held in "inhumane" conditions.

One named plaintiff, Marcus F., an 18-year-old Black person in OCFS custody at MacCormick Secure Center, has been repeatedly placed in solitary confinement — sometimes for weeks at a time — without access to education, rehabilitative programming or meaningful contact with peers or staff, according to the complaint.

"Marcus feels a profound sense of hopelessness and defeat," the complaint says.

Other plaintiffs, ranging in age from 16 to 20 — Garrett M., Christopher M. and Isaac R., all Black and from New York City — have also been subjected to isolation, they claim.

Youths perceived by staff as "problematic," such as Garrett, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions, face harsher and more frequent punishment, including solitary confinement and stricter limits on out-of-cell time, the complaint says. Garrett reported being locked in his cell for days on end.

Through the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare OCFS' practices unlawful under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and to ban their continued use statewide.

Jennifer Whitson, a spokesperson for OCFS, told Law360 that the agency is "aware" of the class action.

"The complaint will be thoroughly examined and we will respond through the appropriate legal process," she said. "OCFS does not endorse or condone the use of isolation for punishment. We have clear protocols that are designed to ensure the safety of youth, and staff, while incorporating trauma-informed and mental health-responsive practices. We will continue to work diligently to ensure the safety and well-being of all those under care of our facilities."

Youth confined in OCFS secure-placement facilities range in age from 12 to 21 and have been adjudicated or sentenced in family court or in the youth part of the adult criminal justice system. According to the complaint, solitary confinement is imposed both as punishment for perceived infractions and as a management tool.

A sign reading "The Morgue" marking a unit used for solitary confinement at Brookwood Secure Center for Youth in Claverack, New York, reflects a "punitive and degrading culture" surrounding the practice, the complaint says.

Chronic staffing shortages are another driver of OCFS's reliance on isolation, despite its official prohibition on using solitary confinement for administrative purposes.

"The same practice is happening just under the auspice of a different name," Emma-Lee Clinger, a Legal Aid Society attorney representing the plaintiffs, told Law360 on Friday. OCFS, she said, uses terms such as "room confinement," "special programming" and "modified programming" to describe situations in which youths are effectively confined alone in their cells without meaningful human contact for prolonged periods of time.

Attorneys say such isolation has had devastating consequences. Two people attempted suicide in OCFS facilities in 2025, according to the complaint.

"These are the most vulnerable populations in our society," Clinger said. "These are young people whose brains are not fully developed, who are more vulnerable to systemic violence and trauma, and the infliction of solitary confinement and isolation just adds another layer of trauma to what they're already experiencing."

Dawne Mitchell, chief attorney of the juvenile rights practice at the Legal Aid Society, said in a statement Friday that young people in OCFS secure-placement facilities "have a right to safety, dignity, and age-appropriate treatment," calling the agency's practices "barbaric, unlawful, and inhumane."

"Locking these children — the majority of whom are Black or Latinx — alone in small, unhygienic rooms for hours on end with no access to education, programming, or interaction with others is detrimental to their development and can have devastating, lasting impacts on their mental health and well-being," she said.

Jeremy Creelan, a partner at Jenner & Block, said the "devastating and permanent harm inflicted on young people through solitary confinement demands immediate legal intervention to force systemic change in how our state treats its most vulnerable youth."

In June, a labor union representing many OCFS staff warned state lawmakers that conditions at the agency had reached a breaking point. In a letter focused on the Industry Residential Center, south of Rochester, union officials described what they called an "escalating staffing, safety, and service delivery crisis."

As of Memorial Day weekend 2025, the union wrote, "Youth were reportedly confined to their rooms for up to 23 hours a day, often denied basic access to restrooms and served food in unsanitary conditions. The fact that these youth — predominantly Black and Brown — are forced to live in squalid, dehumanizing conditions is unconscionable."

The plaintiffs are represented by Emma-Lee Clinger, Lisa Freeman, Antony Philip Falconer Gemmell and Kathryn Anne Wood of the Legal Aid Society, and Jeremy M. Creelan, Damian Williams and Jacob D. Alderdice of Jenner & Block LLP.

Counsel information for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services was not available.

The case is F. et al. v. Harris-Madden et al., case number 1:26-cv-00148, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

--Editing by Adam LoBelia.

Update: This story has been updated with comment from OCFS and additional counsel information for the plaintiffs.