Good morning. It's Monday. Today we'll take a closer look at a landmark decision that found the city in contempt over the management of its troubled jails.
Last week a federal judge cleared the way to take control of the city's jails and appoint an outside official known as a receiver to run them. At the same time, the judge, Laura Taylor Swain, found the city in contempt for failing to stem the violence and excessive force used at the Rikers Island complex. Her decision was the latest milestone in the long legal fight over Rikers, which has been troubled by dysfunction and violence for decades. Judge Swain's 65-page ruling came nearly a decade after the city agreed to the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that brought federal oversight to the city's jail system. The violence has continued: In the last two years, at least 33 people have died in the city's jail system or shortly after they were released. I asked Hurubie Meko, who covers the criminal justice system in the city, to discuss what Judge Swain's ruling might mean. Would a receiver make a difference? What could a receiver do that the city has not been able to do? Judge Swain would decide how much control the receiver would have. Receivers can be given all-encompassing power to hire and assign staffs and negotiate contracts. One issue raised by lawyers for prisoners, as well as Judge Swain herself, is how vulnerable the leadership structure of the jails is to politics. Commissioners are appointed by mayors to oversee the jails, and the City Council approves the budget. The correction officers' union is also politically very powerful. A receiver, answerable to the court, would operate outside that power structure and could make changes without approval from City Hall. What led to the contempt finding? It's been nine years since the city settled the class-action lawsuit over long-running abuses in its jail system. Since then, Judge Swain has given the city many chances to fix the rampant violence at the jails, but conditions have only worsened. In July 2023, the federal monitor responsible for overseeing the dangerous jails asked her to consider finding the city in contempt of court orders. Progress had not only "stagnated," according to the monitor, Steve J. Martin, but there had been "a disturbing level of regression." Also last year, Manhattan's top federal prosecutor officially joined calls for an outside authority to take over the jails. The judge referred to the "glacial pace of reform" by the city. She also said the Department of Correction had repeatedly launched and then abandoned plans and pilot programs. Did that contribute to why Rikers broke down in such fundamental ways? Rikers Island has been a trouble spot for decades. Mayors have installed new commissioners, and — according to critics — it was as if the clock on progress restarted each time. There were initiatives when a new mayor or a new correction commissioner took over, but soon the pace slowed, there was an outcry, the commissioner was replaced, and the cycle restarted. Another lawsuit involving Rikers has dragged on for 50 years. Something that was said early on in connection with that case showed the city's mind-set. Benjamin Malcolm, who was the correction commissioner when that case was filed in the 1970s, responded to a federal judge's order to improve jail conditions by declaring: "We cannot overnight restructure such a vast correction system just to please a federal judge." Malcolm also said that the judge in that case was interfering "in the internal affairs of local government." New York spends $400,000 per inmate, which you wrote was six times the average in other large U.S. cities. But the judge said Rikers is overstaffed. Is it? Chronic absenteeism among correction officers has long plagued Rikers. At its worst, in recent years, roughly a third of the guards failed to show on an average day, forcing others to work double shifts. In addition, there's an unlimited sick leave policy, which means that staffing levels can fluctuate. In September, the average number of staff out sick was about 6 percent daily, according to the city comptroller's office. This comes against a steady decrease in the number of uniformed officers working at the complex, city data shows. Mismanagement and dysfunction have also added to the staffing issues. A New York Times investigation in 2021 found that correction officers were often stationed in less dangerous positions, while guard posts in units that house prisoners went unfilled, leaving inmates unprotected. Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly opposed a federal takeover of Rikers, insisting that the city can best improve conditions there. Can the city head off a federal takeover at this point? Since the 2015 settlement, the city has been given time to address the violence and work with Martin, the monitor, to improve conditions. A third-party administrator is usually a last resort in a case like this. Louis Molina, who was appointed by Adams on his first day in office in January 2022, promised to turn things around at Rikers, including absenteeism among guards. Molina, who had helped lead the Westchester County jails out of federal oversight, began amid optimism and what appeared to be a good working relationship with Martin. But that did not last long. Molina was moved to City Hall as the assistant deputy mayor for public safety last year. In June, he was moved again, to be the commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Adams appointed Lynelle Maginley-Liddie to be the correction commissioner when Molina left, and she remains in the job. Judge Swain, in her opinion last week, acknowledged that Maginley-Liddie appeared to have a positive working relationship with Martin and his team. But because of the pattern Judge Swain had seen with past commissioners, she said that "it is too soon to assess whether the jails will make sustainable progress in achieving the transformative change necessary to bring them into compliance with court orders under Commissioner Maginley-Liddie's leadership." Adams pointed out on Tuesday, before the judge handed down her ruling, that the city was already planning to close Rikers and replace it with new jails in four of the five boroughs. Would the four new jails get the city out from under a receiver? If Judge Swain appoints a receiver, she would have to determine what improvements might still need to be made before the city could regain control. It's true that the City Council voted to close Rikers Island and replace it with the four borough-based jails by 2027, but officials have said the city is unlikely to meet that deadline. The idea was that smaller jails would be more humanely designed and would be closer to detainees' lawyers and families. WEATHER Expect a mostly sunny day, with a high near 40 and a wind chill from the mid-20s to the mid-30s. The evening will be clear, with the temperature dipping into the low 30s. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Dec. 9 (Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception). The latest New York news
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N.Y. Today: Will federal oversight fix Rikers?
December 02, 2024
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