By Michael Gartland
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Gov. Hochul ordered state criminal courts in New York City to expand remote hearings Tuesday to ease the burden on the city’s Correction Department, which staffs Rikers Island.
The jail complex has come under sharp scrutiny in recent weeks for the dire conditions there. Lawmakers have called the situation at Rikers a humanitarian crisis because of the dozen inmates who have died there in the last year, filthy conditions and severe overcrowding.
Hochul’s executive order is aimed at using remote hearings to speed up the hearing process and to free up correction officers needed to staff in-person hearings. By making more hearings remote, more COs presumably would be available to staff Rikers.
“No incarcerated person, no corrections officer, and no family member should have to endure the reality of Rikers as it exists today, and we must do everything in our power to prevent New Yorkers from languishing in Rikers awaiting their day in court,” Hochul said in a written statement Tuesday. “While more work needs to be done collaboratively with all levels of government, this executive order is an important step to alleviate capacity concerns and help protect New Yorkers.”
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, which oversees state courts, said that, in most instances, the new order will apply only to defendants in New York City who personally agree to it.
Hochul’s order comes a day after Mayor de Blasio finally took a tour of Rikers. For four years, he avoided visiting the jail, but on Monday, as the drumbeat intensified for him to bear witness to conditions there, he went.
The mayor conceded on Monday that the city still has “a hell of a lot of work to do” when it comes to Rikers, and on Tuesday, he unveiled a new plan to use city Sheriff’s Department officers to help transport prisoners, a duty that normally falls to correction officers.
Under that plan, an unspecified number of sheriff’s deputies would be deployed to relieve correction officers, both on and off the island, and deputies would primarily help with transporting inmates back and forth to court.
De Blasio also suggested deputies might be used to assist in guarding Rikers’ perimeter.
“There’s some very specific roles, moving inmates, for example, to lawyer meetings and court appearances, whatever it may be, that we think they can take on discreetly, and, again, relieve some of the pressure on the correction officers so they can focus on Rikers itself,” the mayor said. “The transportation is one piece. The arraignments in court are another piece — that will be in some places the NYPD. The perimeter security is another piece, and [we will] cover them with different forces so that the correction officers can be used where they’re needed most.”
Tuesday’s announcement from Hochul is not her first foray into interceding on Rikers. Two weeks ago, after de Blasio pleaded for state help, Hochul ordered the release of about 200 inmates from the jail complex and signed the Less is More Act, which allows for inmates imprisoned for minor parole violations to be released. That law doesn’t go into effect until next year, though.
As part of her push for more remote hearings, Hochul’s administration is working with the state Office of Court Administration to explore other ways to speed up the hearing process.
In a statement, a Hochul spokesperson said that OCA “has committed to ensuring the swift review of cases” for pre-trial release, as well as clearing warrants, holds and writs.
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