Judge stops federal Rikers takeover – for now
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Criminal justice reform advocates rally near the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. The rally came shortly before a federal judge ruled that the city would remain in control of Rikers Island for at least the next five months. Photo by Max Parrott
By Max Parrott
A federal judge ruled Thursday that it is premature to take control of the Rikers Island jail complex away from New York City and hand it over to a federal receiver.
Though violence and the number of in-custody deaths has increased substantially over the past two years at levels that the city admitted to be a violation of constitutional rights, Laura Taylor Swain, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said that she was persuaded that the Department of Correction had taken several key steps that could result in improved jail conditions in the coming months.
The corrections agency, attorneys for the city, attorneys for the Legal Aid Society and others appeared before Swain on Thursday in an ongoing case surrounding the treatment of incarcerated people on Rikers Island that dates back nearly a decade. Thursday’s appearance was a pivotal one – the DOC was required to prove that its control over violence in the jail complex was growing or else face the prospect of receivership, a judicial order that could result in a third-party takeover of the troubled pre-trial detention facility.
The two-hour conference featured lengthy arguments about whether or not conditions on Rikers Island – where 18 people have died this year – have improved over the past several months. Though she acknowledged conditions on the island remained dire, Swain ultimately said she wanted to see the results of DOC Commissioner Luis Molina's recent reforms before making a decision to appoint a receiver or leave the city in control.
“The department has taken specific steps to effectuate change,” Swain said in her ruling, which did not preclude granting a receivership at another date should the DOC’s reform efforts wane.
The plaintiffs, which include every person detained on Rikers Island, will have another opportunity to ask for the federal intervention at the next hearing on April 27.
The Legal Aid Society and two other law firms which represent the plaintiff class formally requested a federal receiver at the hearing on the grounds that the jail is more violent and deadly today than in 2015 when a federal court brokered the arrangement that created the federal monitor program and a host of sweeping guidelines for DOC.
“A full review of the facts will demonstrate that the continuing violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights cannot be redressed absent appointment of a receiver to reverse the City’s persistent failure to follow this Court’s orders,” the Legal Aid Society said in a letter to Swain on Monday.
Swain on Thursday also denied a related request that would have held the DOC in contempt for failing to follow the reforms outlined in the arrangement, known as a consent decree.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Chief Judge Laura Swain denied the Legal Aid Society’s motion calling for a federal receiver on Rikers Island on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Max Parrott
In a statement following the hearing, Molina said: "My team and I are committed to continuing the work that we have done in the last 11 months and I appreciate that the Court acknowledged our efforts and the progress we have made this year.”
“We have so much more work to do, but we are confident that a receivership would be counterproductive to the many positive changes that are already underway,” he added.
The decision comes as an increasing number of criminal justice reform groups and electeds have come out in favor of federal receivership.
Though activists and lawmakers have called for a receivership that would strip control of Rikers away from the city, other forms exist. The judicial order for a receivership is crafted largely based on the wishes of the judge, and could take the form of a more cooperative management of the jail, with duties split between the third-part authority and the DOC.
Before the court hearing on Thursday, a group of dozens of people directly impacted by Rikers and community groups gathered in Foley Square to demand the federal takeover of Rikers as a means of advancing the closure of the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, where population numbers are rising and currently sit around 6,000 detainees.
“All of [the nearly 6,000 detainees’] loved ones who are in our communities live in constant fear of getting the call that their loved one is dead,” said Henry Robinson, a leader at the Katal Center, which led the rally.
A report filed in late October by the federal monitor found that the number of monthly stabbings and slashings, which skyrocketed in 2021, has continued to rise in 2022.
The reduction in use of force incidents committed by correction officers on detainees – the main reason for the federal monitor’s appointment – has also failed. The number of use of force incidents are significantly higher now than in 2016, according to the monitor.
The number of deaths on the island have also reached alarming numbers. Dating back to January 2021, 34 people have died while in or just after being released from DOC custody. That matches the total for the two years before the monitor was appointed.
At Thursday’s hearing, Molina, who was appointed to his role under Mayor Eric Adams nearly a year ago, distanced himself from DOC leadership of the past six years and touted a number of recent structural changes he has begun to implement to change the culture among corrections staff and to reduce levels of violence in the jails.
Molina said that he has hired 28 new department leaders from outside the city jails system, who have experience with jail reform in other places. He also outlined a plan to request permission to hire wardens from outside the DOC — a process that is blocked under the city’s administrative code. One of the key reasons those who support the appointment of a receiver have called for one is because they would not be bound to adhere to the city’s DOC hiring laws and would only be answerable to the court.
In her remarks, Kimberly Joyce, senior counsel for the city, argued that a receiver would hinder the progress that Molina has made so far.
“A receiver is not a magic bullet or a quick fix,” she said.
Jeffrey Powell, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, supported Joyce’s stance that Molina’s reforms needed more time to take effect.
“There appears to be at least some glimmer of hope that progress is on the horizon,” he said.
Legal Aid Society lawyers, however, downplayed the optimism and raised concerns at the pace at which the court was considering conditions on the island, which incarcerated people describe as grave.
As a neutral party, a federal receiver would be more rigorous at disciplining corrections officers who use force against detained persons, said Legal Aid Society attorney Mary Lynne Werlwas. Under the current discipline process, many use-of-force violations essentially go without consequences, she said, pointing to a drop in the number of suspensions that the DOC has issued over the past year. As it stands, the discipline process is intimately “wrapped up in politics,” she said.
“We are disappointed that the court would not allow plaintiffs to present their case for the appointment of a receiver, but appreciate the court’s demand of the city for swift and serious action,” the Legal Aid Society lawyers wrote of Swain’s decision in a statement.
Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the city’s attorney, said that the administration was “pleased with the court’s decision to allow the city to continue building upon the progress it has made addressing the longstanding issues in the city’s jails.”
“It is evident that the court recognized that additional motion practice at this time regarding a Federal Receiver is premature and counterproductive to the city’s ongoing reform efforts,” she added. “We look forward to further demonstrating the city’s commitment to instituting lasting reforms and providing any additional information the court requires.”
