The City Council obtained this Thursday a qualified “veto-proof” majority that would approve a bill that puts an end to the controversial measure of solitary confinement in the prison system of the Big Apple, an agreement that has as its backdrop in the background the death of another inmate at the Rikers Island Jail this week, which adds a total of 13 deceased in the possession of the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) so far this year.
The initiative of local legislators has been promoted for decades by human rights defenders, who have documented that isolating inmates for days as a disciplinary measure is a practice that has been the main driver of deaths and suicides.
“Solitary confinement, no matter what you call it, it’s traumatic and inhumane, with lethal effects on mental health. During my most recent visit to ‘Rikers,’ I spoke with a man who was in bedless involuntary protective custody for almost two days, awaiting a proper mental health observation,” said Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee of the Municipal Chamber.
The legislative agreement occurs as a result of the death of Michael Nieves, an inmate of 40 years old who fatally slashed her throat while held in custody in a special area on Rikers Island. He had been behind bars since June for a crime associated with a robbery.
According to published reports, Nieves bled to death during 10 minutes in his cell while the Department of Corrections guards could do nothing to stop the fatal injury. This inmate died on 13 August at Elmhurst Hospital.
Nieves is detainee number to die in the largest prison in New York, located in Queens, in this 1152, which projects that the death rate is on track to exceed that of 2021, when they died 16 people.
The suicide of Michael Nieves in ‘Rikers’, who suffered from mental disorders, ignited the spirits of human rights defenders in NYC. (Photo: F. Martínez)Activists against mass incarceration
As detailed in a statement shared by the Legal Aid Society, Nieves suffered from a “mental illness seriously” and three officers also observed “without helping” how the inmate cut his throat with a knife.
“That this week’s tragedy occurred in the prison unit, which apparently is better trained and equipped to hold seriously mentally ill people in custody, underscores the fundamental inability of prison to keep people safe,” Legal Aid said in its report.
It was learned that all the officers guarding to Nieves were suspended.
The death of this inmate not only accelerated agreements between local legislators to prohibit disciplinary punishment measures, but also caused the fury of organizations that defend the rights of the prison population, whose leaders once again took over one of the entrances to the City Hall in Lower Manhattan this Thursday.
“Rikers Island has never before been in a situation of such cruelty . We demand that elected leaders not only end solitary confinement, but take action to overcome prison overcrowding. It is a center for the death penalty. It’s hell!” Cuban Jhonny Pérez, director of the National Religion Campaign Against Torture, said among the crowd of protesters. (NRCAT)
Johnny, from 36 years, knows precisely what it means to be a prisoner in ‘Rikers’. Now he is an activist who joined the action of community organizations that provide support to those who for some reason are behind bars.
The islander tells that when he was just a teenager from 16 years, was prosecuted and placed in prison custody for drug trafficking.
“I was there for a couple of years. I made mistakes. And today I am redeemed. I made a personal decision that not only freed me from the criminal world, but gave me the drive to help others. Therefore, I know the pain and despair of hundreds of families and inmates who spend months waiting for a trial. And they easily find death. And I can say that this 1152 everything is worse”, the activist said excitedly.
More of 800 prisoners
According to the balance of various organizations, the high rate of deaths in City custody occurs at as the prison population increases, due to the mass arrest measures recorded in recent months.
Last year, the average daily prison population of this prison center was 4,921 , in contrast until this week there were 5,718 people detained, according to data from the Department of Correction. This means almost 718 more inmates in all pavilions.
Another element that recalled the death of inmate Michael Nieves, is that during the past year, the 53% of inmates had a mental health diagnosis. But according to the consensus of several activists, due to the high concentration of detainees, access to mental health services in Rikers is limited, since officers usually do not attend to detainees who indicate that they want to commit suicide.
Given this scenario, advocates for changes in the administration of criminal justice who have called for a permanent end to solitary confinement urged the City Council to quickly pass this bill. And to Mayor Eric Adams to enact it when it reaches his desk.
In this sense, Victor Pate, co-director of the #HALTsolitary campaign and a survivor of the correctional system, described these disciplinary measures as “a horrible practice that They should have ended a long time ago.”
“New York City jails have been finding new ways to inflict torture, including locking people in solitary confinement in tiny medieval shower cages. This has to end now”, remarked Pate.
Controller ratifies the chaos
For his part , New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who organized a panel to follow up on the DOC’s actions and a visit to ‘Rikers,’ confirmed that despite some progress and record budget spending by the City, no is fulfilling basic obligations to human beings in custody.
“Despite the fact that the average price of one night in Rikers is higher than that of a five-star hotel, the conditions of the detainees set off alarm bells in terms of Human Rights”, concluded Lander.
The official recognized real improvements in the admission process and in punitive segregation, where most of the detainees were receiving seven to 10 hours out of their cells,in accordance with state law.
But what Lander agreed with the activists, is that several people are in “involuntary protective custody”, a form of solitary confinement that the UN has declared as torture.
“I spoke to a man who has been in a small holding cell for 50 hours, without bed or blanket, waiting to be transferred to a special unit. More than half of the population in Rikers has some mental disorder”, he said.
In the face of pressure from human rights organizations and the imminent majority vote of the Council to eliminate the punishment of solitary confinement , it is not clear what the position of Mayor Eric Adams will be, who has been very direct in ensuring that incarcerated people who prove to be violent, they must be separated from others.
This position was ratified this week by the municipal representative when he stated before local media that: “If you are in jail and commit a crime of depredation on an official, a civilian or another inmate, I want you to tell us what we should do with them. Because I don’t know what they want us to do with it”.
Adams’s vision since taking office in January is that people who commit violent crimes should be removed from society.
“They must go somewhere so as not to hurt people again”, he stressed.
Staff prison to more normal levels
Much of the crisis described in Rikers Island is linked to the lack of security personnel and medical care that originated from the effects of the pandemic.
However, in the midst of this new wave of criticism, the DOC commissioner, Louis Molina, assures that 1,400 officers have returned to duty in this summer.
“Today we are in a very different situation where we saw an average of 100 units units of the prison compound without staff. That has been reduced to 09 on average”, he assured.
In an interview with El Diario, Molina added that attacks with knives and stabbings have been reduced by 40 percent, according to data from last May, compared to the same period in 2022.
In addition, he rated a 30% less in attacks on staff. Also an improvement of the 36% in the assistance of prison guards to their work.
The New York Correctional Workers Benevolence Association has weighed the high level of danger that offering services to a penitentiary center with inmates who are mostly very violent means.
“No one goes out to protest when a prisoner savagely attacks us, for no reason. In the midst of this public health crisis that is not over yet, the vast majority of our The workers remained fulfilling their duties. In many cases, protecting twice as many people as normally corresponds”, shared a prison official, who preferred to keep his name anonymous.
3 keys: What would change with the law against solitary confinement?
- The new legislation that counts now with at least two thirds of the 39 seats in the New York City legislature, would prohibit inmates from being isolated in a cell for more than of two hours, during the day, in a period of 24 hours or for more than eight hours a night to sleep.2876913
- Inmates may be held longer to reduce conflict m very violent or if they represent an immediate danger to another person, but that may not exceed four hours in a period of 24 hours.
The data:
5,781 people were detained on ‘Rikers Island’ until this Wednesday compared to 4,921 people last year.