New York City will pay as much as $53 million to 4,413 people who were held in harsh, isolated conditions at Rikers Island and Manhattan jails between 2018 to 2022.
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023.The city of New York will pay as much as $53 million to 4,413 people who were held in harsh, isolated conditions at Rikers Island and Manhattan jails between 2018 to 2022, according to a settlement agreement filed in federal court on Wednesday.
“They were unable to move freely, as pretrial detainees have a right to do,” said Alex Reinert, a Cardozo Law School professor and one of the attorneys on the case. He said the detainees alleged to have violated jailhouse rules were also not afforded due process before being punished by being placed in isolated conditions.
Some of the conditions allegedly experienced by the detainees would be described as “solitary confinement” under internationally accepted humanitarian standards. But that term has widely different interpretations, as Gothamist has. Detainees and members of the oversight agency the Board of Correction say people are sometimes held in solitary-like conditions, including shower cages, for longer than a day at a time. Last year, a man was isolated for more than 30 hours before his death.
Watchdogs say that conditions restricting movement at Rikers Island persist. Under questioning at a Board of Correction meeting last month, Commissioner Louis Molina acknowledged that officers put some detainees into restraint desks, which involve leg shackles and handcuffs, during group activities like classes and recreation.
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