New York City’s troubled jail system on Rikers Island will soon have a new leader, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, according to two government sources.
The appointment — which hasn’t been formally announced — comes more than a month after Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina announced his transition to a new role as an assistant deputy mayor for public safety under Phil Banks.
Maginley-Liddie will take the helm as the push for a federal third-party receiver to take charge of the system awaits action from a federal judge.
A City Hall spokesperson and a representative for the Department of Correction did not comment, and Maginley-Liddie did not respond to a text message.
The Antiguan-born Maginley-Liddie had previously served as first deputy commissioner under Molina. She first joined the department in 2015, initially working as an attorney for the department. Over the last eight years, she rose up the ranks and served as deputy general counsel, leading the department’s General Litigation Unit, according to her online bio.
In August 2020, she was promoted to acting senior deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer.
“As a woman of color, I recognize the significance of this role-not only for me but more important for the staff who work at this agency,” she told Caribbean Life in March. “My representation covers a broad spectrum across our workforce.”
“My hope is that, when others see me in my role, they learn from my journey to get here,” she added. “I want them to envision themselves in leadership roles and know that they can attain any position of power within the agency to effect real change.”
It remains unclear how long she will remain as commissioner — and how much independence she will have.
Manhattan federal court judge Laura Taylor Swain has begun reviewing arguments on whether the Department of Correction should be placed under control of a court-appointed receiver.
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Damian Williams, is among those pushing for a so-called receiver to take over the city’s jail system, in a case first filed by his office under predecessor Preet Bharara.
Adams, and his predecessor Bill de Blasio, and their four correction commissioners were “unable or unwilling” to enact proper policy changes to decrease violence, according to Williams.
“But after eight years of trying every tool in the tool kit we cannot wait any longer for substantial progress to materialize,” Williams wrote in his brief. “That is why my office will seek a court-appointed receiver to address the conditions on Rikers Island.”
Last week, the New York City Bar Association and the Vera Institute of Justice jointly filed an amicus brief backing the appointment of a federal receiver. It was the first amicus brief ever submitted by the Vera Institute, a research organization.
“For decades, Rikers Island has been a byword for human misery,” the brief states. “Simply put, Rikers is a gangrenous limb within the DOC, and its excision is necessary for the healing of the DOC as a whole.”
Molina’s tenure was marred by controversy and failed reforms.
Over the past year, Steve Martin, the Texas-based federal monitor overseeing proposed reforms at the Department of Correction, repeatedly called out Molina and his leadership team for failing to do enough to stem a spike in violence and deaths behind bars.
Martin accused Molina of pushing him to leave out damaging information from his public reports.
“The jails remain dangerous and unsafe, characterized by a pervasive, imminent risk of harm to both people in custody and staff,” Martin wrote in his most recent report evaluating operations at Rikers Island and other city lockups.
In the summer of 2022, Molina launched a Jails Action Plan advertised as an effort to reverse a spike in stabbings and slashings, along with high rates of uses of force on inmates by correction officers.
It was a total failure, according to Martin and jail reformers.
“While a few of the department’s recent proposals (if meticulously developed and properly implemented) could address problems in discrete areas, most recent proposals remain haphazard, tepid, and insubstantial and will not create the type of culture change and practice improvements that are prerequisite to effective reform,” Martin stated in his most recent report.
The number of stabbings and slashings this year has “significantly increased,” the monitor noted.
And some stabbings and slashings aren’t reported for days — if at all — according to Martin.
“Staff reporting of serious events continues to be unreliable,” the report said. “Reports of serious injuries are delayed, and in some cases, do not occur, and the department’s convoluted reporting conventions further compound the problem.”