New York City found in contempt over conditions in city jails

NEW YORK (AP) On Wednesday, a federal judge found New York municipal in contempt for the state of its municipal jails, stating that in the nine years since the city resolved allegations of violence and abuse, conditions have only gotten worse.

In a written decision, Manhattan Judge Laura Taylor Swain found the city in contempt of 18 different contempt claims.

The decision was the result of legal action that started in 2012 when the Legal Aid Society and others claimed that the city’s Department of Correction had a history of using excessive and needless force in city cells.

The judge claims that conditions have gotten worse over the past ten years, even though a settlement and consent decree were reached in October 2015.

She wrote that the rate of violence, self-harm, and deaths in detention, as well as the use of force rate, are clearly higher than they were prior to the Consent Judgment’s implementation.

“There has been no significant decrease in the risk of harm currently facing those who live and work in the Rikers Island jails,” Swain continued, “and the record in this case shows that the rates of use of force, stabbings and slashings, fights, assaults on staff, and in-custody deaths remain extraordinarily high.”

Over the course of the following few weeks, she directed all parties to agree on remedies.

A request for comment was not immediately answered by the Legal Aid Society or the Department of Correction.

Advocates for prisoners petitioned the judge a year ago to put the city under receivership and hold it in contempt.

According to them, correctional guards continue to strike prisoners in the head and employ illegal tactics like body slamming, chokeholds, and forceful restraining.

Additionally, the advocates contended that the agency’s leadership has continuously disregarded a monitor’s recommendations and has not taken action to stop abuses.

Swain ordered municipal authorities to start creating a strategy for a potential federal seizure of Rikers Island in September.

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