If a receiver is appointed, they will have authority over the prison system that corrections commissioners do not. With the backing of Judge Swain, this person might ignore state and local laws, skipping over bureaucratic hurdles and hiring regulations and perhaps breaking ties between the jails and the powerful correction officers’ union.
Given the breadth and complexity of the issues plaguing Rikers Island, experts have warned that even a receiver, who would be picked by the judge, would have a difficult job. From one catastrophe to the next, the prison complex reels. Newer ones started in the year 2020. Hundreds of correction officers started calling in sick or just not showing up to work as the pandemic continued to ravage New York.
A rise in significant acts of violence between inmates, as well as an increase in acts of self-harm, were all exacerbated by the absence of these officers. Since the beginning of 2021, around forty inmates have passed away while incarcerated. The 19 deaths recorded last year were the highest total in almost 10 years.
Even though four inmates died at the jail last month, Mayor Adams and his correction commissioner, Louis A. Molina, say that things are improving. Three chaotic days in recent memory were recounted at the session, one of which was on Tuesday, when lawmakers toured the jails.
The tweet below verifies the news:
A federal judge Thursday opened the door to stripping New York City of control over Rikers Island, in a hearing that highlighted the daily chaos that reigns in the jails despite assertions by Mayor Eric Adams and his allies that conditions are improving. https://t.co/bFxxkxGkb4
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 10, 2023
Many inmates who sided with Mr. Adams against receivership made public comments about the apparently improved conditions and posted upbeat images of the facilities. During the hearing, a member of the judge’s monitoring team named Anna Friedberg recited the damaging facts and stated that the visit was only one of many attempts by the government to influence public opinion.
She mentioned that her group had seen inmates using drugs openly the day after seeing the facilities. Mr. Molina took the microphone just after she finished speaking and proclaimed that the Adams administration has been moving forward “at a breakneck pace.” “Things are not getting worse,” he said. “The facts suggest the very opposite.”
The consensus on his point of view was challenged. The situation continues, according to federal prosecutor Jeffrey Powell, who said his agency “just can’t wait any longer for conditions to substantially improve.” According to Mary Lynne Werlwas, a lawyer representing inmates at the Legal Aid Society, the city has displayed a “disturbingly cavalier attitude toward truthfulness” in recent months.
Expert interviews show that the system is still in a critical state. Trial attorney Margaret DaRocha from New York County Defender Services said she had gone to great lengths to shield one client, but she would not reveal the client’s identity out of fear of reprisal from the prison system. Because he was shot in the stomach years ago, her client is now incontinent.
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Ms. DaRocha was concerned that he would suffer from medical difficulties or be physically assaulted by guards or other inmates while incarcerated at Rikers. She voiced her worries to the Department of Correction and found out that her client had not been transferred to protective housing. Near the end of June, another inmate hit him in the jaw.
After having emergency surgery, he was returned to Rikers, where he was informed that he would not be eligible for treatment of his jaw injury. The hearing on Thursday was much anticipated. In April 2022, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, proposed that an outsider might be able to address the emergency at Rikers.
The city was given extra time to fix the situation after Judge Swain heard Mr. Molina explain that “change must come from within.” Mr. Molina collaborated with the jail monitoring team, lead by Steve J. Martin, to develop a strategy for improvement.
By the end of November, 18 people had died while in jail or shortly after being released, and attorneys for inmates, including the Legal Aid Society and the firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, wanted to be allowed to argue for a takeover. The motion was refused by Judge Swain.
Something changed this year. After initially praising Mr. Molina, Mr. Martin began to criticize him for being opaque, going so far as to say that the city could not be trusted to accurately divulge the number of persons who had died under its watch. It appears that Judge Swain was swayed by Mr. Martin’s discontent.
She has recently been critical of the city in a hearing and in court documents for failing to “address the dangerous conditions that perpetually plague the jails.” But on Thursday, Judge Swain suggested that perhaps a dramatic measure was unnecessary. She cautioned that she has faith that the current administration can fix things.
“I will be watching,” she vowed. This city’s residents “will be watching.” Following this, she said, “Watching in justifiable expectation — and in hope. If a receiver is appointed, they will have authority over the prison system that corrections commissioners do not.
With the backing of Judge Swain, this person might ignore state and local laws, skipping over bureaucratic hurdles and hiring regulations and perhaps breaking ties between the jails and the powerful correction officers’ union. Given the breadth and complexity of the issues plaguing Rikers Island, experts have warned that even a receiver, who would be picked by the judge, would have a difficult job.
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From one catastrophe to the next, the prison complex reels. Newer ones started in the year 2020. Hundreds of correction officers started calling in sick or just not showing up to work as the pandemic continued to ravage New York. A rise in significant acts of violence between inmates, as well as an increase in acts of self-harm, were all exacerbated by the absence of these officers.
Since the beginning of 2021, around forty inmates have passed away while incarcerated. The 19 deaths recorded last year were the highest total in almost 10 years. Even though four inmates died at the jail last month, Mayor Adams and his correction commissioner, Louis A. Molina, say that things are improving.
Three chaotic days in recent memory were recounted at the session, one of which was on Tuesday, when lawmakers toured the jails. Many inmates who sided with Mr. Adams against receivership made public comments about the apparently improved conditions and posted upbeat images of the facilities.
During the hearing, a member of the judge’s monitoring team named Anna Friedberg recited the damaging facts and stated that the visit was only one of many attempts by the government to influence public opinion. She mentioned that her group had seen inmates using drugs openly the day after seeing the facilities.
Mr. Molina took the microphone just after she finished speaking and proclaimed that the Adams administration has been moving forward “at a breakneck pace.” “Things are not getting worse,” he said. “The facts suggest the very opposite.” The consensus on his point of view was challenged.
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The situation continues, according to federal prosecutor Jeffrey Powell, who said his agency “just can’t wait any longer for conditions to substantially improve.” According to Mary Lynne Werlwas, a lawyer representing inmates at the Legal Aid Society, the city has displayed a “disturbingly cavalier attitude toward truthfulness” in recent months.
Expert interviews show that the system is still in a critical state. Trial attorney Margaret DaRocha from New York County Defender Services said she had gone to great lengths to shield one client, but she would not reveal the client’s identity out of fear of reprisal from the prison system. Because he was shot in the stomach years ago, her client is now incontinent.
Ms. DaRocha was concerned that he would suffer from medical difficulties or be physically assaulted by guards or other inmates while incarcerated at Rikers.
She voiced her worries to the Department of Correction and found out that her client had not been transferred to protective housing. Near the end of June, another inmate hit him in the jaw. After having emergency surgery, he was returned to Rikers, where he was informed that he would not be eligible for treatment of his jaw injury.
The hearing on Thursday was much anticipated. In April 2022, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, proposed that an outsider might be able to address the emergency at Rikers. The city was given extra time to fix the situation after Judge Swain heard Mr. Molina explain that “change must come from within.”
Mr. Molina collaborated with the jail monitoring team, lead by Steve J. Martin, to develop a strategy for improvement. By the end of November, 18 people had died while in jail or shortly after being released, and attorneys for inmates, including the Legal Aid Society and the firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, wanted to be allowed to argue for a takeover.
The motion was refused by Judge Swain. Something changed this year. After initially praising Mr. Molina, Mr. Martin began to criticize him for being opaque, going so far as to say that the city could not be trusted to accurately divulge the number of persons who had died under its watch. It appears that Judge Swain was swayed by Mr. Martin’s discontent.
She has recently been critical of the city in a hearing and in court documents for failing to “address the dangerous conditions that perpetually plague the jails.” But on Thursday, Judge Swain suggested that perhaps a dramatic measure was unnecessary.
She cautioned that she has faith that the current administration can fix things. “I will be watching,” she said. “The people of this city will be watching.” She later added, “Watching in justifiable expectation — as well as in hope.”
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