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 […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inRikers Island
Hundreds of Women File Rape Lawsuits Against City Jails
Inette Baez has held the secret of what happened to her on Rikers Island for nearly 20 years. She was serving an eight month-jail sentence inside the Rose M. Singer Center in 2004 when, she says, a correction officer repeatedly lured her into a massive freezer and forced her to perform oral sex and raped […]
Posted inMarijuana
Legal Budtender Is Home After Three Weeks in Rikers on Pot Charges
Jumal George, a budtender at Housing Works’ dispensary, was released from a Pennsylvania jail on Thursday evening. He had spent more than three weeks imprisoned on Rikers Island, in part because of an arrest warrant for out-of-state cannabis charges. George, 33, was arrested during a traffic stop on October 11 while driving home from his […]
Posted inMarijuana
A Budtender at NYC’s First Legal Pot Shop Is in Rikers on Pot Charges
An employee of the city’s first legal marijuana dispensary is being held on Rikers Island on a cannabis-related felony charge in a striking example of how pot, despite being legal in New York state, can still drag people into the criminal justice system as it remains illegal under federal law and those of several states. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Brooklyn Conviction Review Unit Wants to ‘Correct Mistakes’ Quicker — But Still Silencing Cases
While the Kings County squad has been hailed as a model, critics — and its leader — say the CRU can do better.
Posted inRikers Island
New Council Bill Would Shine Light on Jail Deaths
The push for increased transparency behind bars comes months after the Department of Correction suddenly stopped notifying the media about fatal incidents in city jails.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, NYPD
NYPD Quality-of-Life Crackdown Sends Thousands to Criminal Court, Undoing Landmark Reforms
A 2016 law directed police to issue civil citations for public urination, open alcohol containers and other quality-of-life violations. Then Eric Adams became mayor.
Posted inNYPD
Prosecutors Review Dozens of Cases After NYPD Informed Them — Eight Years Later — of a Detective’s Fingerprint Mistake
The incident led to the transfer of the detective, the retraining of two others, and changes in police procedure.
Posted inRikers Island
Demand Grows to Make Rikers Island Death Reports Public
Manhattan City Councilmember Carlina Rivera is among those pressing for transparency amid a record number of fatalities.
Posted inCity Council, Criminal Justice, Department of Correction, Donovan Richards, Rikers Island
Thousands of Former Rikers Detainees are Eligible to Claim Millions in Commissary Deposits Left in Their Accounts
Despite a mandate to return funds, the Department of Correction holds $4.2 million for people it claims it can’t locate.