Rikers Officials Never Took Basic Steps to Comply With Solitary Ban

The city Correction Department never took several basic steps to comply with a new law that would have strictly limited the use of solitary confinement, internal jail records show..

The law had been set to go into effect on Sunday before Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday signed an emergency executive order that blocked major parts of its implementation.

It required jail officials to put detainees who acted out into so-called “de-escalation cells” where they could cool off and get additional counseling and services.

But no de-escalation cells were ever set aside inside the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, one of the ten facilities on Rikers Island, according to jail records.

Instead, detainees punished in that facility are sent to the facility’s intake area where they sometimes get stuck for days without a bed, jail oversight reports show.

The new law also called for detainees in the de-escalation cells to be checked on every 15 minutes.

But no additional social workers or other health staffers appear to have been hired to tackle that additional load, according to city records.

A representative from the city’s Correctional Health Services, which oversees medical care on Rikers, did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said at a press conference outside City Hall Monday that he and the City Council were looking into suing to enact the bill they passed. The Council passed a resolution on July 17 that allowed them to take legal action to do that.

Williams said they anticipated issues with the Adams administration fully implementing the solitary ban – with him and advocates at the press conference doubting the administration ever planned to implement the law.

“I don’t even think he’s read the bill, quite honestly,” he said of the mayor.

“There are different parts of government, the mayor’s not the only one – there were a lot of people elected in November of 2021 who have different points of view and they have to be respected. The mayor has shown he doesn’t respect them, and he’s going to abuse whatever powers he has.”

The solitary law would have prohibited jail officials from moving a detainee in so-called “restrictive housing” for more than a total of 60-days in any 12-month stretch.

It also banned the long-term use of so- called restraint desks where detainees have their legs shackled to the desk.

But Adams and the union representing jail officers and supervisors were worried that it would also block them from handcuffing and shackling detainees as they travel on buses to and from courthouses across the city.

Opponents of the solitary confinement ban cited the federal monitor overseeing the department since 2015, Steve Martin, who had previously said he was worried the ban would lead to further violence on Rikers.

“Attempting to implement Local Law 42 at this time would be ill-advised as it would be dangerous and would subject incarcerated individuals and staff to further risk of harm,” Martin wrote to federal judge Laura Swain on July 17.

Advocates contend that Martin has failed to reform the department during his eight-year tenure. They argue that only a court-appointed receiver given more power can turnaround the troubled agency. `

The Adams administration has argued in court in recent weeks that Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie has begun to enact improvements the receiver has called for since she took over last December.

Still, Adams on Saturday signed an executive order declaring the DOC in a state or emergency in order to block key components of the solitary confinement law.

“It is of the utmost importance to protect the health and safety of all persons in the custody of the Department of Correction and of all officers and persons who work in the City of New York jails and who transport persons in custody to court and other facilities, and the public,” Adams wrote.

The emergency declaration enraged activists.

Doctor Victoria A. Phillips, a founder of the Jails Action Coalition, said the mayor and his administration “waste our time,” and didn’t read their plan for how to enact the bill.

‘Inhumane’

Even as Adams has long opposed the legislation, his administration has also argued that the DOC does not actually use solitary confinement as a punishment.

“It is important to note, the department has not practiced solitary confinement since 2019, and the commissioner agrees the practice, as conventionally defined, is inhumane,” said DOC spokesperson Annais Morales on Monday.

The DOC no longer has official cells or areas officialy used as solitary confinement, which is defined by most as total isolation for 22 hours over multiple days.

But jail insiders and formerly incarcerated people point out that officers routinely put detainees in intake areas that operate just like solitary confinement cells — and are sometimes even worse.

Detainees are sometimes placed in shower areas without a bed or bathroom for days, according to multiple Board of Correction death review reports . The DOC has also used some of the de-escalation cells as a sort of alternative to solitary confinement by keeping detainees inside them for days, the reports revealed.

Under the City Council bill , all people in DOC custody would be entitled to at least 14 hours a day of out-of-cell time. It would allow jail officials to isolate detainees — who attack others or act out or try to harm themselves — for a maximum of four hours.

The city’s solitary confinement practices garnered national headlines after the death of Layleen Polanco on June 7, 2019.

The 27-year-old transgender woman was in the ninth day of a 20-day solitary confinement sentence when she was found lifeless inside her Rikers cell. She was being held in lieu of a $500 bond for misdemeanor sex work and drug possession charges.

Other jails and prisons that have drastically reduced the use of solitary confinement use bigger spaces to hold individuals who act out and boost social programming. They include the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in New Jersey, the Nebraska Department of Corrections and the North Carolina adult correction and juvenile justice system.

A bill to ban the practice in New York City was first introduced in December 2020.

But former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson blocked the legislation from ever coming before the full legislative body for a vote. The move surprised some jail activists who noted that Johnson publicly supported the legislation.

A new version of the measure was introduced by Public Advocate Williams and was backed by new City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams , whose mother was a former correctional officer.

The United Nations considers more than 15 consecutive days of solitary confinement to be a form of torture.

Research has shown that extreme isolation behind bars can lead to long-term health issues, especially for teens and young adults. A 2021 study also found that solitary can boost the odds of someone getting rearrested after they are freed.

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