Winston Wins $112 Million Verdict for Immigrants Unlawfully Held by Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office

Following eight years of hard-fought litigation, including a 5-day trial, a jury awarded $112 million in damages to a certified class of 670+ immigrants who were unlawfully detained by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office (the County) based solely on detainers issued by ICE without showing probable cause.

In 2017, Winston and co-counsel LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York asserting that the County unlawfully refused—based solely on detainer requests issued by ICE—to release our clients from custody after the resolution of their criminal cases.

In January 2025, we won a motion for summary judgement, arguing that the County lacked legal authority to detain our clients for civil immigration violations. The court agreed, stating the County had no reasonable belief, much less probable cause for the detention. This ruling cleared the way for our clients to pursue Fourteenth Amendment due process claims and damages at trial.

First, however, the team had to survive the County’s appeal of the summary judgment ruling. They also defeated a last-gasp motion to dismiss in which the County speciously argued that it was entitled to invoke the federal government’s sovereign immunity.  

The jury unanimously found that the County had violated our clients’ rights and ordered the County to pay $75 million for its Fourth Amendment and New York Constitution violations and another $37 million for procedural due process violations. The combined $112 million award is nearly 100 times larger than the firm’s next highest pro bono award.

Congratulations to the cross-office team, led by New York partner Aldo Badini and New York associate Michelle Tuma, on securing this life-changing and Constitution-affirming win for our clients. The other lawyers on the team included Sophia Borne, Jeremy Chu, Hector Correa Gaviria, Sydney Hartman, Jara Jacobson, Calvin Kim, Andrew King, Jennifer Kopp, Lane Lerner, Becca Ou, Rachel Rubin, Dylan Russian, and Michelle Slezinger. They could not have achieved this result without the help of an amazing support team, including Zarko Djurovic, Corinne Kyritsopoulos, Lindsay Martinez, Aishwarya Prabhu, Rudy Radic, Austin Rooke, Joshua Ryder, Michael Saade, Mike Thompson, and Alan Walz.

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