New York City to End Solitary Confinement for Inmates 21 and Under
New York City to End Solitary Confinement for Inmates 21 and Under, New York City officials agreed on Tuesday to a plan that would eliminate the use of solitary confinement for all inmates age 21 and under, a move that would place Rikers Island at the forefront of national jail reform efforts.
The policy change, which was approved unanimously, 7 to 0, by the city’s Board of Correction on Tuesday morning and is supported by the correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, would not go into effect until January 2016 and is contingent on obtaining financing for additional officers and clinical staff members.
The Correction Department has been harshly criticized over the last year after revelations of horrific brutality and neglect of inmates. The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan is now suing the city over its treatment of adolescent inmates. In the face of mounting scrutiny, the city has provided millions of dollars for better staffing and improved programs for inmates. It also recently eliminated the use of solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Even so, until Tuesday, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, backed by the powerful correction officers union, had strongly resisted any efforts to curtail solitary confinement more broadly.
Even the most innovative jails in the country use solitary confinement as a punishment for inmates over 18, said Christine Herrman, director of the Segregation Reduction Project at the Vera Institute of Justice.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that happening anywhere else,” Ms. Herrman said, referring to the New York City plan. “It would definitely be an innovation.”
The policy change, which was approved unanimously, 7 to 0, by the city’s Board of Correction on Tuesday morning and is supported by the correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, would not go into effect until January 2016 and is contingent on obtaining financing for additional officers and clinical staff members.
The Correction Department has been harshly criticized over the last year after revelations of horrific brutality and neglect of inmates. The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan is now suing the city over its treatment of adolescent inmates. In the face of mounting scrutiny, the city has provided millions of dollars for better staffing and improved programs for inmates. It also recently eliminated the use of solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Even so, until Tuesday, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, backed by the powerful correction officers union, had strongly resisted any efforts to curtail solitary confinement more broadly.
Even the most innovative jails in the country use solitary confinement as a punishment for inmates over 18, said Christine Herrman, director of the Segregation Reduction Project at the Vera Institute of Justice.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that happening anywhere else,” Ms. Herrman said, referring to the New York City plan. “It would definitely be an innovation.”
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