By Josephine Stratman, Chris Sommerfeldt
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Mayor Mamdani has ordered city corrections officials to come up with a plan to bring NYC jails into compliance with a law that banned solitary confinement on Rikers Island that had sparked strong pushback from his predecessor.
As Mayor Adams did during his term, Mamdani Monday extended Rikers’ emergency status, allowing the jail complex to be exempt from various local laws.
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But, in doing so, Mamdani signaled a sharp shift, directing his agencies to come up with a plan within 45 days to bring Rikers into compliance with the solitary confinement ban adopted by the Council in late 2023 and with a set of other minimum standards set by the Board of Correction.
“What we are … looking to do is to bring an end to the era where city government would simply extend something every five days without any plan of what compliance can look like,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani also directed his agencies to work with the court-ordered federal jails monitor to ban solitary confinement.
Adams had fought the limits on solitary passed by the council.
He vetoed the Council’s solitary confinement bill, then challenged the law itself in court after the Council overrode his veto. He then leaned on the emergency declaration to skirt compliance with the ban, arguing it would put both inmates and DOC guards at risk.
“The previous administration’s refusal to meet their legal obligations on Rikers has left us with troubling conditions that will take time to resolve,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the emergency executive order.
Amid the changes at Rikers, Mamdani has yet to appoint a commissioner for the Department of Corrections. Lynelle Maginley-Liddie , Adams’ handpicked DOC commisisoner, is continuing to lead the department.
As part of a long-winded court case related to conditions on Rikers, Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Swain has ordered that a receiver — who would oversee the DOC commissioner — should take over control of the notoriously dangerous jail complex. But she has yet to appoint that receiver.
On Tuesday, Mamdani declined to share any updates on whether he plans to hire a new commissioner, saying he would “be sure to share” any new personnel.
Mamdani issued the emergency oder for 45 days, but didn’t commit to ending the emergency status after that time is up.
“As soon as we have the plan to actually get into compliance,” the mayor said of when he’ll stop renewing the controversial executive order. “We have to do the work to get into compliance.”
Benny Boscio , president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, argued that “solitary confinement” hasn’t existed for decades in the city’s jails, and that the practice of “punitive segregation” for less than 24 hours is carried out for safety reasons.
“Last year alone, there were nearly 700 assaults on our Correction Officers, that included 26 sexual assaults. There were 158 slashing incidents and 123 stabbing incidents,” he said.
“These numbers would be much higher if we had no deterrents and were completely prevented from separating violent inmates from the general population.”
The emergency status started under Mayor de Blasio, but Adams renewed the emergency order every five days throughout his tenure.
Rikers is legally mandated to close by 2027, but the jail population has continued to rise and construction on the borough-based jails intended to replace it have stalled. On the campaign trail, Mamdani slammed the deteriorated conditions at Rikers and pledged to close the complex, but didn’t provide many details as to how he’d manage it.
Based on your experience, how would eliminating solitary confinement affect officer safety and inmate behavior in jails?
Corrections1 readers respond:
- I would create a 4 step program allowing the most violent inmates to lock out for counseling and mandated services for 7 hours a day. Step 1: After the inmate has committed an assault strip the inmate of all luxuries example: commissary, tablets and outside visits for 30 days. Place them in housing areas equipped with programming chairs and only allow the individual to sit in the chairs for programming. Step 2: locking out for 7 hours: once 30 days are completed house the inmate in a housing area that have tablets, counseling and yoga. Allow them to program and speak to counselors in A classroom setting. Afford yoga 2x a week. Allow 1 outside visit a week. Step 3: house the inmate in a housing area that has video gaming systems outside recreation, and personal trainers, as well as the inmate can have their tablets and counselors that can prepare the individual to return to the general population and/or the world. Step 4: have counselors work on programs certification courses that allow inmates to transition to the world. Allowing the inmate to have all weekly visits. All steps should be 30 days. All steps to rehabilitation should be completed within 30 days. In the event the individual assaults staff and or another person in custody a re-arrest should occur consecutive to the current case the individual is incarcerated for.
- The biggest challenge is to get mentally ill people to buy into not being homeless. Forceable drug treatment does not work. Mentally ill people often turn to drugs instead of being compliant with mental health treatment including medications. These people are homeless due to an inability to work, refusal to comply with shelter requirements due to illegal drug use. Reopening mental health centers that have been closed over the past 30 years is the only option as I see it. That is how you get these dangerous people off the streets and deemed mentally incompetent, with medication over objection. I agree, Rikers needs closure. We take these people who come to us literally lice-infested for mental health treatment. They are kept at Rikers awaiting trail-but due to competency issues are sent for evaluation which often takes a year. All I can tell you from experience is a social worker will be unable to talk a paranoid, dangerous, mentally ill criminal down. Alot of people are going to die using this approach, in my estimation while they have their social experiment.
- As a retired NYC correction officer, 28 yrs of duty, it would be a big mistake to stop isolation of inmates that are hurting those around them.They need to be separated. They are angry individuals. All these politicians, including this mayor, want their changes made, but have no ideas on how to proceed. It can’t be done. Period. Wake up!
- Solitary confinement ensures safety for both officers/staff and inmates.Might as well get rid of classification centers if you’re going to end solitary confinement.
- Closing punitive segregation is a terrible mistake. No being able to separate the most violent inmates from the general population would create violence that city hall would deeply regret. You have to give corrections a outlet to control the situation.
- You would completely lose the ability to do anything at the facility. What little bit of power you have left to deter bad behavior would be lost, anarchy and chaos would ensue.
- There is no solitary confinement. The HALT Act has proven the need for it, actually. The increase in attacks on staff and other inmates since the implementation of the Halt Act in 2021 is proof that there needs to be consequences for inmates that continue to break laws and cause harm while behind bars. The Halt Act needs reform or needs to be repealed altogether. Attacks on staff have doubled and attacks on other inmates have tripled since its implementation in 2021 due to the time in the SHU being reduced from 30 days to 15. Inmates are actually rewarded when going to the SHU by being provided programming, iPads, and extended contact time with their family. Make it make sense.
- If there are no consequences, what will keep the “incarcerated individuals” (as they are now to be referred to) from continuing to perpetrate violence in the prisons. Something also needs to be done to prevent drug use in the prisons. It is totally out of control.
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