US judge takes control of New York's troubled Rikers Island jail

[noumoe]

A federal judge on Tuesday said she is taking control of New York's troubled Rikers Island jail complex away from city officials and appointing an independent official to oversee it, citing a decade of worsening violent and dangerous conditions inside the facility.

In a 77-page decision, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said she would select a "remediation manager," reporting directly to her, who will have broad powers to reform Rikers, including authority to revise the jails' rules, hire staff and take disciplinary actions against employees who violate policies on the use of force.

The Legal Aid Society and the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, which represented inmates in the case, said in a statement, "This appointment marks a critical turning point — an overdue acknowledgment that city leadership has proven unable to protect the safety and constitutional rights of incarcerated individuals."

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge- ... 025-05-13/