As a deepening humanitarian crisis inside the Rikers Island jail complex fuels efforts to release more detainees, a judge’s decision can come down to one key consideration: Do they have a stable address?
The Department of Correction (DOC) is refusing to disclose how it ensured the safety of inmates in its more restrictive housing units, including during a record-breaking heat wave this summer, two petitions filed in Queens court Thursday by the Legal Aid Society allege.
Dozens of men splitting a single jug of water, sweating walls in cell units, inmates sucking air from cracks under doors—these are just some of the conditions inmates and advocates have reported from Rikers Island over the past few months.
‘New York City officials claim people in “alternatives to solitary” will have at least 10 hours of daily out-of-cell time, with counseling and programming. But their actual plan involves people being locked alone in a cell twenty-three hours a day, everyday, for indefinite periods of time.’
‘Jail separates people from work and family, jeopardizes stable housing, and subjects them to violence, especially in inhumane environments like Rikers. Incarceration must be the option of last resort, used only when it is essential for public safety.’
Between June 2020 and the end of June 2021, DOC officials submitted nearly 1,800 voter registrations, ballot requests, and ballots to the city Board of Elections on behalf of those detained in the jails. This includes more than 900 completed voter registration forms.
As the June primary election approaches, dvocacy groups have raised concerns about voting access at Rikers Island other facilities, saying New York should follow the lead of cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and D.C. in bringing in-person voting to jails.
Earlier this month, the state began vaccinating incarcerated people 65 and older. But advocates, as well as local officials who run the city’s jails, want eligibility expanded to include all inmates, citing the extra risks posed by correctional facilities.
So far, New York State has allowed the city to administer the vaccine only to the highest-risk patients behind bars, only about 100 people as of last week, according to one Correctional Health Services’ official.
Criminal justice advocates slammed the mix messages for leaving thousands of families “wondering when their loved ones will gain access to vaccines.”