Chief US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain found New York City in contempt Wednesday for failing to reduce violence and brutality in the Rikers Island jail complex. Judge Swain said the city was placing detainees and jail staff in “unconstitutional danger” by not complying with court orders nine years after the city acknowledged the unconstitutional and “perilous” conditions in its jails.
This case, which began in 2012 and is the sixth class action lawsuit against New York City jails, brought allegations of unnecessary and excessive use of force by the city’s Department of Corrections. In 2015, the parties entered into a settlement in which the city agreed to take specific action to remedy the pattern of violence against incarcerated individuals, as required to protect their constitutional rights. A monitoring team stipulated in the agreement has repeatedly observed failures to comply with court orders and excessive force throughout the jail system. Several subsequent court orders reiterated the city’s obligations to comply, including “a plan that can be implemented immediately to ameliorate the unacceptable level of harm in the New York City jails.”
While Mayor Eric Adams and other officials claim that progress has been made to improve conditions, the judge stated “there is no question that the pace of [the city’s] implementation of reform pursuant to the Consent Judgment and subsequent remedial orders has been unacceptable.” Since the 2015 agreement, the use of force rate and rates of violence, self-harm, and in-custody deaths have become worse. There were 8,184 and 6,784 annual incidents of use of force in 2021 and 2023, compared to just over 4,652 incidents in 2016. In the last three years, more than 30 people have died in custody.
The concerning conditions in the Rikers Island jail complex push it toward a federal takeover, which Mayor Adams has resisted. Judge Swain, however, noted that the court was inclined to impose a receivership. She gave the parties until January 14 to propose what that arrangement may look like.
Under 18 US Code §3626, the court can order a prospective relief if it is no more than necessary to correct the violation of the federal right with respect to prison conditions. Among them is receivership–the court would install a receiver, designed by all parties, to take over the operation of the Rikers Island complex.
