Federal judge scolds DOC boss for ‘disturbing’ attempt to influence Rikers monitor

Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina was admonished by federal Judge Laura Swain on Tuesday after he allegedly attempted to influence reporting done by the federal monitor, who is responsible for keeping tabs on conditions inside Rikers Island. File photo by John McCarten NYC Council Media Unit

By Jacob Kaye

The federal judge who will soon be asked if she believes the city should be stripped of its control over Rikers Island admonished Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina in a Tuesday ruling following a report from the federal monitor that found that violent conditions in the jail were not improving.

The ruling from Laura Swain, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, comes several days after federal monitor Steve J. Martin – who was first appointed by Swain to serve as her eyes and ears inside the troubled jail complex in 2015 – said that Molina had again allegedly attempted to interfere in the monitoring team’s work.

As she did after similar allegations were made against Molina earlier this year, Swain rebuked the commissioner in her court order issued Tuesday.

“These actions are, simply put, unacceptable,” Swain said.

In her ruling, Swain ordered top DOC leadership to meet with the monitor in the coming week and “devise a plan that can be implemented immediately to ameliorate the unacceptable levels of harm” in Rikers Island, the jail complex where over two dozen people have died in the last 22 months.

The judge also ordered the DOC to “develop and implement…protocols to address the deficiencies in the department’s internal reporting structures and notifications to the monitor.” Martin’s report released last week describes multiple failures within the DOC to report violent incidents, as well as a general hostile attitude, including from the commissioner, toward oversight and transparency.

According to Martin, Molina attempted to influence the monitor’s reporting over a recent demotion made within the DOC’s top ranks in September.

Molina allegedly told the monitor that he “should refrain from making ‘glowing representations’ about the individual in the monitor’s report or the commissioner would ‘have to get into a public back and forth.’” Martin then asked for a written explanation of the demotion, but Molina refused, allegedly telling the monitor that the demotion was “not Nunez related,” according to the monitor’s report.

“The commissioner continues to take actions that appear counter to his stated intent to be transparent and work with the monitor,” the report read.

In her ruling on Tuesday, Swain scolded Molina and the department for failing to adhere to two recent court orders “requiring the department to take the concrete steps necessary to improve its transparency and collaboration with the monitoring team.”

“In light of the disturbing reports of defendants’ recent behavior, the court reminds the commissioner of the Department of Correction and all defendants that they must not interfere with, attempt to influence, or otherwise threaten the monitor,” Swain said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Correction declined to comment on Swain’s order and instead directed the Eagle to the city’s Law Department on Wednesday.

“The City is working diligently to comply with the court’s order,” a Law Department spokesperson said.

It’s not the first time Molina’s been accused of trying to control what information does and doesn’t make its way into a monitor’s report.

In May, Martin said in a report that Molina and other DOC brass had failed to communicate five serious incidents, including two that eventually led to the deaths of two detainees.

Just hours before the report was filed with the court, Molina allegedly requested that Martin not release it, claiming that it would cause “great harm [to the Department] at a time when we are making great strides.”

“Overall, the commissioner’s May 26, 2023 communication raises significant concerns about whether the commissioner and the department fully appreciate the gravity of the issues at hand and the importance of transparency and oversight,” the report reads. “Serious, life-altering harm has occurred, and an imminent risk of harm to others in custody remains.”

Swain agreed with Martin’s sentiment, and cited Molina’s attempt to suppress the information during the August court appearance where the judge allowed federal receivership proceedings to begin.

During the conference, Swain said she was troubled by Molina’s reported combative approach to oversight and collaboration with Martin.

At multiple points during the August conference, members of the monitoring team, the Legal Aid Society and the U.S. attorney’s office described the DOC’s willingness to participate with the monitor as being at an all-time low, and urged for the judge to consider the contempt of court motion.

“The defendants have not demonstrated by action sufficient willingness or ability to engage productively with the monitoring team,” Swain said at the close of the hearing.

The conference marked the start of what is expected to be a lengthy motion process that may or may not end with a third-party receiver being appointed to run the city’s jail complex.

Though Molina and Mayor Eric Adams have railed against the suggestion that a receivership is needed in order to turn around the failing jail, few have as zealously fought for the city to retain its control over Rikers.

While Martin did not explicitly call for receivership in his October report – the first issued since the August court appearance – he expressed little faith that the DOC is capable of fixing violent conditions in the jail or keeping its detainees and staff safe.

“The City and Department have repeatedly and consistently demonstrated they are incapable of effectively directing and managing the multilayered and multifaceted reform effort, and continuing on the current path is not likely to alter the present course in any meaningful way,” the monitor said in his report.

“The Monitoring Team remains ready to serve as a resource to support the development of a structure that is capable of this task,” the report continued.

Overall, Martin, in his most recent report, described a jail complex that has only fallen further into dysfunction.

“The monitoring team remains extremely concerned about the current state of affairs,” the report reads. “The jails remain dangerous and unsafe, characterized by a pervasive, imminent risk of harm to both people in custody and staff.”

Among the monitor’s concerns are poor security practices, staffing issues, a lack of ability for the DOC to control housing units, failures to punish staff who commit misconduct, and “continuing lapses in timely internal incident reporting and Monitoring Team notification, and continuing efforts to impede transparency and obfuscate the work of the Monitoring Team.”

Nine people have died in DOC custody – or just shortly having been released from it – this year.

Most recently, Manish Kunwar, a 27-year-old, was found dead inside the cell he was being held in on Rikers Island on Thursday, Oct. 5, just hours before the monitor’s most recent report was filed.

Kunwar had been in DOC custody for a week.

The DOC will next appear in court before Swain on Dec. 14.

Should the Legal Aid Society continue its calls for receivership, it’s unlikely Swain makes a ruling on the extreme court order until late winter or early spring of next year. And should Swain order a receiver to take control of the jails, it will likely be many months before a receiver is fully installed and in control of Rikers Island.