NYC moves to curb solitary confinement, mayor says
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Advocates demand an end to the use of solitary confinement in NYC jails outside city hall in October 2019. Mayor de Blasio said the city will curb the use of solitary starting Nov. 1. Photo by John McCarten/City Council
By David Brand
New York City will move to nearly eliminate the use of solitary confinement on Rikers Island and other city jails by November, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
De Blasio said the Board of Correction, the city jail system’s nine-member oversight panel, will formally propose new rules Tuesday that drastically reduce the use of solitary confinement following decades of advocacy.
He said the rule change means the city is “making good on our commitment to ban solitary confinement altogether, creating jails that are fundamentally smaller, safer, and fairer."
Rather than locking people alone in cells for 23 hours a day, jail staff and correction officers will now use a so-called “alternative disciplinary model” known as the Risk Management Accountability System, or RMAS, city according to a draft of the proposed rules.
The system will have three levels for separating detainees from the general population for specific periods of time, de Blasio and Board of Correction Chair Jennifer Jones Austin said in a joint statement.
At each level, inmates will be guaranteed 10 hours outside their cell with an opportunity to socialize with at least one other person. Inmates will also have access to case managers, counselors and five hours of programming.
“Ending solitary confinement is essential to building a safer and more humane jail system for both people in custody and staff,” said Jones Austin, the executive director of the organization FPWA.
Solitary confinement has been shown to have a damaging effect on the mental health of individuals, particularly young people. The city banned solitary confinement for detainees under age 22, but correction officers have defied Board of Correction directives by keeping young adults locked away for up to 17 hours a day, THE CITY reported last month.
Correction officers say solitary is a key tool for enforcing discipline and separating dangerous inmates from staff and other detainees.
Correction Officer Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio called the new proposal a “recipe for disaster” in a statement Monday.
“Mayor de Blasio has once again caved to political pressure exerted by the inmate advocacy movement by planning to end punitive segregation completely next Fall, just before he leaves office,” Boscio said. “For months COBA has made the case that this reckless plan will only put thousands of lives at risk and assaults on Correction Officers will increase even more.”
