NYC officials in contempt for conditions on Rikers Island, federal judge rules

A federal judge tasked with overseeing conditions on Rikers Island ruled on Wednesday that New York City officials have failed to address violence and use of force in the jail complex, paving the way for a potential federal takeover.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted a request to hold the city in civil contempt, meaning that it had not complied with past court orders, and ordered the parties to devise an improvement plan in the next few weeks. She said she’s also inclined to impose receivership, which would mean that an outside party would take control of safety and use of force protocols at Rikers.

“Those who live and work in the jails on Rikers Island are faced with grave and immediate threats of danger, as well as actual harm, on a daily basis as a direct result of defendants’ lack of diligence,” Swain wrote, referring to the City of New York and its Department of Correction. She added “that the remedial efforts thus far undertaken by the Court, the Monitoring Team, and the parties have not been effective to alleviate this danger.”

The Legal Aid Society, which brought the lawsuit that sparked the ruling, called Swain’s decision “historic” and said it will “create a pathway for reform.”

“The ruling tells us that what's been done is nowhere near enough and that the efforts so far have not gotten us anywhere closer to compliance with the Constitution and with the law,” said Mary Lynne Werlwas, director of the public defender group’s Prisoners’ Rights Project. “This ruling makes clear that the city is obligated to follow the law and that the court intends to hold the city accountable.”

The ruling comes as a blow to Mayor Eric Adams, who has resisted calls for an outside receiver. A mayoral spokesperson defended corrections Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie and described her as a “necessary steady hand” to oversee the jails’ safety.

“Our administration — with Commissioner Maginley-Liddie at the helm of the Department of Correction — has made significant progress towards addressing the decadeslong neglect and issues on Rikers Island,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are proud of our work, but recognize there is more to be done and look forward to working with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails."

The city’s law department and the Department of Correction did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment.

Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio said in a statement that “necessary, not excessive force” is required to keep both jail staff and detainees safe.

“Outsourcing control of Rikers Island to a federal receiver will not be a silver bullet and will not solve any of these problems,” he said. “Giving correction officers the manpower and resources to enforce law and order in our jails will.”

Conditions have gotten ‘demonstrably worse,’ judge says

Swain’s ruling stems from a federal class action lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society and others, which argued that Rikers detainees’ civil rights were being violated, because they were being subjected to physical violence. That lawsuit prompted a 2015 consent decree that required a federal monitor to regularly review conditions in city jails and share their findings with the court.

In the nine years since, Swain wrote, rates of violence on Rikers Island have gotten “demonstrably worse.” She said incidents of use of force by staff have climbed: staff used physical force against incarcerated people 4,652 times in 2016, according to the ruling, and 6,784 times last year. The peak was in 2021, with 8,184 use of force incidents. The annual number of stabbings and slashings has also surged, according to data cited in the ruling.

City officials and the correction officers’ union have attributed the rise in violence to the growing share of detainees accused of violent crimes since 2019, when state lawmakers passed bail reform legislation. The change limited when judges can set cash bail for defendants awaiting trial, leading to fewer people being detained pretrial on nonviolent charges. As a result, a larger proportion of the people who are now held on Rikers face more serious charges.

But Swain said the violence trend reflects mismanagement and, at times, “bad faith” on the part of city officials.

The judge found that the city has failed to follow 18 provisions mandated in court orders meant to improve conditions in the jails, including:

• Failure to implement a new use of force policy aimed at reducing excessive force by officers
• Failure to adequately investigate use of force and hold staff accountable for misconduct
• Failure to adequately supervise staff
• Failure to effectively deploy officers across the jails
• Failure to rein in emergency response teams, which have been accused of escalating situations
• Failure to protect young people in custody

Swain said she had “no reason to doubt Commissioner Maginley-Liddie’s abilities, recent accomplishments and good intentions,” but that she “simply cannot ignore the history of noncompliance and ineffective measures and restart the clock each time a commissioner is replaced.” She ordered the parties to spend the next several weeks mapping out a plan for what a receivership would look like, if she decides to impose one.

Swain’s ruling comes as calls mount for outside investigations into the conditions on Rikers. In addition to high reported rates of physical violence, the city is also facing more than 700 lawsuits accusing correction officers and medical staff of sexually abusing women while they were detained on Rikers Island. Werlwas, with the Legal Aid Society, said the allegations of both sexual abuse and physical violence speak to “systemic deficiencies” in how the city jails are run.

“There's no question that the culture in the jails has to change,” she said. “It's harmful to everyone who walks through those doors — the people who work there and the people who live there.”

Elizabeth Kim contributed reporting.