City Council asks judge to protect their power over Rikers ahead of receivership ruling

City Council asks judge to protect their power over Rikers ahead of receivership ruling

If a federal judge follows through with her threat to strip the city of its control of Rikers Island, she should make sure plans to shutter the dangerous jail complex by 2027 remain in place, attorneys with the City Council said in a court filing this week.

Read More

Rikers monitor endorses Adams’ pause on solitary ban

Rikers monitor endorses Adams’ pause on solitary ban

The monitor appointed by a judge to track violence in the city’s notorious jail complex said in a highly-anticipated report last week that a yet-to-be-implemented city law banning solitary confinement would “only exacerbate the current dangerous conditions” on Rikers Island.

Read More

City nominates itself to take over Rikers

City nominates itself to take over Rikers

City Hall late Friday told a federal judge that she should look no further than the current Department of Correction commissioner should she choose to strip the city of its control of Rikers Island and hand the notorious jail complex over to a receiver.

Read More

A century of violence, chaos and death: Inside the troubled history of Rikers Island

A century of violence, chaos and death: Inside the troubled history of Rikers Island

As a federal judge considers taking Rikers Island out of the city’s control and handing it to a court-appointed receiver, the Eagle is looking back at the history of the city’s troubled jail complex in an effort to understand how the city arrived at this critical moment.

Read More

Mayor defends his record on Rikers as federal takeover looms

Mayor defends his record on Rikers as federal takeover looms

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday defended his administration’s efforts to quell violence and disorder on Rikers Island, a little less than a week after a federal judge said she was leaning toward taking the jail complex out of the city’s hands for its failure to keep detainees safe.

Read More

Rikers receivership case sluggishly moves forward

Rikers receivership case sluggishly moves forward

For the first time in nearly seven months, the city’s Department of Correction on Tuesday appeared before the federal judge currently considering whether or not the city should be stripped of its control of Rikers Island, the troubled jail complex that has seen over two dozen deaths in the past two years.

Read More

Solitary confinement ban comes into view, but city challenge remains

Solitary confinement ban comes into view, but city challenge remains

Advocates, lawmakers and public defenders on Monday urged the city’s jail watchdog to ensure that the City Council’s ban on solitary confinement be fully implemented before the end of next month, despite ongoing efforts from the city and Department of Correction to delay the law’s enactment.

Read More

Council overrides mayor’s vetoes of criminal justice bills

Council overrides mayor’s vetoes of criminal justice bills

The City Council on Tuesday voted to override the mayor’s veto of a bill aimed at increasing transparency in the NYPD and a bill to ban solitary confinement in the city’s jails, putting to an end a weeks-long public debate riddled with accusations from both councilmembers, Mayor Eric Adams and his allies that the other side purposely were spreading half-truths or outright lies.

Read More

Attorney general, NYCBA and public defenders call for Rikers receiver

Attorney general, NYCBA and public defenders call for Rikers receiver

The New York State attorney general, a top bar association, scores of public defense organizations, several former New York City officials and a criminal justice nonprofit all called on a federal judge to strip control over Rikers Island away from the city and hand it over to a court-appointed receiver. 

Read More

Month after ‘promotion,’ Molina remains DOC boss

Month after ‘promotion,’ Molina remains DOC boss

City Hall said Louis Molina would move from Department of Correction commissioner to assistant deputy mayor in “mid-November.” But in a sworn affidavit this week, Molina said he remains in charge of the agency, and doesn’t know when a successor will be named.

Read More