Multiple members of the city’s jail oversight board this week urged Mayor Eric Adams to stop relying on emergency executive orders to circumvent rules to ensure the safe housing of people behind bars. In November 2021, then-mayor Bill de Blasio first signed executive orders suspending multiple Board of Correction regulations, citing chaos brought on by […]
Solitary Confinement
Posted inSolitary Confinement
Push to Ban Solitary in City Jails Stalls as Lawmakers Blame Staff Concerns
A majority of City Council members plus the public advocate say they want to get rid of so-called punitive segregation — but some jail staff aren’t so sure.
Posted inRikers Island
Solitary at Rikers: ‘People Go Crazy in There’
People who survived solitary confinement at Rikers describe the horrific conditions and mental anguish that extreme isolation can cause. Until recently, New York City had nearly a thousand such “punitive segregation” cells.
Posted inIncarceration
Expand Solitary Confinement to 17 Hours, City Jails Commissioner Asks Board, Citing Violence
Correction Department Commissioner Louis Molina wants to keep people in punitive segregation locked in their cells for longer — even as Rikers reformers are looking to end the practice entirely.
Posted inSolitary Confinement
At the Last Minute, City Officials Put Brakes on Alternative to Solitary Confinement at Rikers
A new ‘Risk Management and Accountability System’ was all set to go, but following criticism from a federal monitor and reporting by THE CITY, the changes are on hold.
Posted inJails
City Jails Scrap Last Remnants of Pricey Consultant Plan as Deaths Mount
A fifth person this year died behind bars at Rikers Island on Wednesday morning — the first woman in three years — just hours after officials announced they were overhauling their last overhaul.
Posted inJails
City Lawmakers Drag Feet on Solitary Confinement Ban After Campaign Promises
The City Council has still not introduced any measure to end solitary confinement in city jails despite a majority of members publicly opposing the practice. The public advocate’s office meanwhile has taken up the mantle and says a bill will be introduced in weeks.
Posted inJails
New Council Members Assail Adams’ Plan to Restore Solitary Confinement in NYC Jails
The progressive contingent of the incoming, new-look City Council launched its first shot against Mayor-elect Eric Adams on Monday, targeting his vow to bring back solitary confinement in city jails. “Solitary confinement is considered by the United Nations, human rights organizations, and medical and mental health experts to be a form of torture,” reads a […]
Posted inSolitary Confinement
Adams Vows to Bring Solitary Confinement Back to Rikers Island, Scrapping Reforms
When scores of city correction officers rallied against proposed jail reforms in front of the bridge leading to Rikers Island last summer, they chanted “Bring back the box!” — referring to solitary confinement. On Thursday, Mayor-elect Eric Adams promised to do so. People in city jails who are violent will be put in so-called punitive […]
Posted inSolitary Confinement
De Blasio’s Order to Delay Solitary Confinement Reforms Over Rikers Chaos Slammed
Mayor Bill de Blasio postponed planned limits on solitary confinement amid Rikers Island chaos — drawing a rebuke Tuesday from the sister of the woman whose death galvanized the push to end inmate isolation in city jails. “He disgusts me as a leader,” said Melania Brown, whose sister, Layleen Polanco, died at Rikers on June […]