Around a year after hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the Department of Correction by New Yorkers who said they were sexually abused while incarcerated on Rikers Island, top officials in the DOC attempted to convince fuming lawmakers on Thursday that they were taking the allegations seriously.
Read MoreWith the city’s legally-mandated deadline to close Rikers Island now less than three years away, top court officials this week said that they plan to make a number of reforms in the city’s criminal courts in an effort to lower the jail’s population, which, as of now, is nearly twice as large as what can be held in Rikers’ replacements.
Read MoreThe family of a man who committed suicide on Rikers Island last year said in a new lawsuit that the city and its Department of Correction should be held accountable for the man’s death.
Read MoreDetainees with mental health issues are sometimes locked inside cells for weeks or months at a time without access to their needed medication and left to deteriorate, a former social worker on Rikers Island told the jails’ watchdog board on Tuesday.
Read MoreA former Rikers Island correctional officer was cuffed by federal authorities last week after prosecutors said she smuggled drugs into the notorious jail complex in exchange for cash payments from detainees.
Read MoreThe state attorney general’s office said last week that it would not bring charges against a former correctional officer on Rikers Island who failed to help a detainee while he died of a fentanyl overdose in 2022.
Read MoreA 23-year-old Rikers Island detainee died Sunday night after experiencing a medical emergency that her attorneys say went ignored by jail staff.
Read MoreAdvocates, 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 MoreThe cost of replacing the crumbling jail complex on Rikers Island by building borough-based jails across the city has continued to balloon over the past year.
Read MoreThree former correctional officers, a Rikers Island program counselor, a jails contractor and a detainee were all charged this week in federal court for scheming to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the city’s notorious jail complex.
Read MoreNearly all of the four men who died on Rikers Island in the second half of last year entered the troubled jail complex with mental health and addiction issues, and failed to receive regular medical care or adequate supervision from the Department of Correction, a new report from the Board of Correction found.
Read MoreThe 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 MoreWho is in charge of the city’s troubled Department of Correction? The judge considering whether or not the city is capable of running Rikers Island wants to know.
Read MoreA new bill that would require dyslexia screening of certain detainees in the city’s jails signed into law by Mayor Eric Adams last week is facing pushback from some local public defenders who are wary about the agency being given new responsibilities.
Read MoreIn August, Mayor Eric Adams called for a new proposal to close Rikers Island while reiterating his opposition to the current plan. It seems less than two months later he has got his wish.
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