New York City Council votes to sue Adams over solitary confinement law

(The Center Square) — The New York City Council is gearing up to take Mayor Eric Adams to court to ensure a ban on solitary confinement in city jails goes into effect in the latest back-and-forth of an escalating intra-party feud.

The Democratic-led Council voted on Thursday to approve a resolution authorizing Speaker Adrienne Adams to take legal action if the city goes to court to block the law restricting the use of solitary confinement in the jails.

Mayor Adams' administration has signaled to a federal judge presiding over a prisoners’ rights case that it plans to ask a court to suspend the requirements of the new ban before it goes into effect on July 28.

The new law , which was opposed by Adams and police and correctional officer unions, would require people in city jails to have at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time in a congregate setting "unless for the purpose of de-escalation confinement or during emergency lock-ins," among other changes.

Under the city's current rules, inmates placed in solitary or so-called "restrictive housing" must get a minimum of seven hours outside of their cell, according to the NYC Board of Corrections.

Adams, a former NYPD captain, vetoed the solitary confinement bill in January, saying the move would “keep those in our custody and our correction officers safer."

The Democrat said if the bill takes effect, the city would "no longer be able to protect people in custody, or the union workers charged with their safety, from violent individuals."

But councilors overrode Adams' objections to the solitary confinement bill, saying the new restrictions would reduce violence in correctional facilities and end a practice they say causes "harm" to the prisoners.

"We cannot allow the human rights and safety crisis on Rikers to continue by maintaining the status quo of failed policies and practices," said Speaker Adams in a recent statement. "This legislation has broad support and advances a new approach to reduce violence and prioritize safety."

But a federal monitor who was put in charge of the city's jails blasted the move to ban solitary confinement, saying it will only "exacerbate the already dangerous conditions" behind bars.

“The Department must be able to effectively separate those who have engaged in serious acts of violence from potential victims and, to some degree, limit their freedom of movement when they are engaged in congregate activity outside their cells,” the monitor wrote in a letter to councilors.

The fight over solitary confinement is the latest development in a widening intra-party rift between Adams and the Democratic-led Council, which has also overridden the mayor's vetoes of a police stop bill and plans to expand the council's authority over confirming nominees to fill city departments and commissions.

Last year, councilors overrode the mayor’s veto of housing legislation aimed at providing more rental assistance to low-income New Yorkers.