Federal judge seizes control of Rikers Island from NYC

Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued a stunning ruling that effectively places Rikers Island under the control of the court.

The infamously dangerous jail complex houses around 7,000 inmates and is best known for its “unsafe and dangerous conditions.” Judge Swain cited this among the reasons for her ruling in her 77-page order, which will put the correctional facility under the control of “an independent officer reporting solely to the court,” according to Fox News.

“The unsafe and dangerous conditions in the jails… have become normalized despite the fact that they are clearly abnormal and unacceptable,” the judge wrote in her ruling.

“The order stems from a 2011 case, Nunez v. City of New York, when a group of incarcerated individuals filed a federal lawsuit alleging a pattern of excessive and unnecessary force by staff in New York City jails. In 2015, the city agreed to a settlement known as the Nunez Consent Judgment, which laid out hundreds of required reforms to reduce violence and improve oversight,” Fox reported.

Ultimately, conditions at the jail failed to improve enough for Swain’s taste.

“Nine years have passed since the parties first agreed that the perilous conditions in the Rikers Island jails were unconstitutional; that the level of unconstitutional danger has not improved… is both alarming and unacceptable,” she continued in the order.

She has previously held the Department of Corrections in contempt for reportedly “violating 18 provisions of court orders meant to reduce violence, abuse, and dysfunction in the jail system.”

The independent officer will have the power to change current DOC policies related to the issues, including use of force, staffing, discipline, and security.”

Despite his history of opposing a federal takeover of the prison, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has signaled his intention to comply with the order.

“If the federal judge made a determination that they want to do something else and they don’t like what we’re doing, it’s a federal judgement,” he said on Tuesday. “We’re going to follow the rules.”

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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