Solitary Confinement

Alex Friedmann claimed he was being punished for his years of advocacy on behalf of prisoners prior to his arrest

"AB 2632 establishes standards that are overly broad and exclusions that could risk the safety of both the staff and incarcerated population within these facilities," he said

Testimony came during a City Council hearing on a bill to ban solitary confinement at Rikers Island

"Someone slashes someone in jail, what do I do with him? I remove him from population and put him someplace by himself until he corrects his action."

“New York City is better than solitary confinement,” Speaker Adams said

The proposal would restrict the use of confinement to no more than 15 consecutive days and a total of 45 days in a six-month span

Officials said the Department of Correction isn't ready to implement its plan in a manner that is safe for staff and detainees

New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association has argued that HALT will lead to increased violence in state prisons

“It doesn’t eliminate the use of solitary confinement, but it puts significant restrictions on its use," said Rep. Steven Stafstrom

The union's president said the incident is largely a result of the HALT Act limiting segregated confinement

"Gross understaffing," "uncontrolled gang activity," and inmates having "unfettered access to contraband" were among the DOJ's findings