New York City mayor Eric Adams blocks ban on solitary confinement

New York City mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in local jails over the weekend to prevent them from enacting a new law limiting solitary confinement in the lock-ups.

The law was scheduled to take effect Sunday after at least 26 people had died in New York City jails since January 2022. Adams’ emergency declaration came Saturday.

The law in question capped solitary confinement at four hours and mandated that detained people receive at least 14 hours outside their cells in shared spaces daily. The law also limits the use of handcuffs and restraints on incarcerated people – but Adams’ order paused the implementation of those measures.

New York City council members passed the law in January 2024, overriding a veto from Adams.

A report released by the Center for Justice at Columbia University in December 2023 found that although the New York City corrections department reduced solitary – or de-escalation – confinement to six hours, detained people were still being held in that setting for much longer, including days at a time.

On any given day, the department in charge of New York City’s jails put more than 180 people in solitary confinement.

Adams’ declaration order argues the law “includes unprecedented provisions regarding the management of incarcerated individuals following serious acts of violence and eliminates necessary discretion by correctional management in a manner that could actually result in an increased risk of harm to other incarcerated individuals and staff”.

The order claims the new law would put correctional officers and prisoners at risk – and it says the city’s jails do not have the staffing and resources to implement the legislation.

The federal monitor overseeing reforms at New York City’s Rikers Island jail, Steve Martin, has opposed the solitary confinement limits, saying the municipal correctional department is too dysfunctional to implement it. There are about 6,000 people detained at Rikers.

Meanwhile, New York City public advocate, Jumaane Williams, criticized Adams’ order, accusing the mayor of misinformation and attempting to cover up the crisis at Rikers Island.

“This is a shameful tactic, another desperate abuse of power by this administration to try [to] ignore laws it opposes,” Williams said in a statement. “Misusing a ‘state of emergency’ is dangerous, especially from a mayor who claims to care about public safety. Any state of emergency on Rikers continues to be caused by an administration that has refused to engage with partners to meaningfully improve conditions.”

He also vowed to use all his power to force Adams to implement the law. The New York City council recently passed a resolution to grant its speaker, Adrienne Adams, authority to take legal action against Adams and his administration to ensure they implement the law, setting up possible litigation.

“Each day mayor Adams’ administration shows how little respect it has for the laws and democracy,” city council spokesperson Shirley Limongi said in a statement. “It sets more hypocritical double standards for complying with the law that leave New Yorkers worse off.

“In this case, our city and everyone in its dysfunctional and dangerous jail system, including staff, are left less safe. The reality is that the law already included broad safety exemptions that make this ‘emergency order’ unnecessary and another example of mayor Adams overusing executive orders without justification.”