Rikers Island detainee dies in jail complex’s first death of 2025
Author: 1010 WINS Newsroom with AudacyFebruary 19th, 2025 NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Rikers Island jail complex inmate died while in custody on Wednesday morning, marking the first detainee death so far in 2025, according to the New York City Department of Correction. Ramel Powell, 38, was pronounced dead at the Otis Bantum Correctional […]
State prison oversight group: Marcy fatality review ‘could take years’
Author: Kate Lisa with Spectrum News 1/29/2025 It could take years for the state Commission on Correction to complete a mortality review of an incarcerated man who was beaten to death by multiple officers at Marcy Correctional Facility last month, the oversight group’s chair said Wednesday. The commission, which provides oversight to all state prisons, […]
City nominates itself to take over Rikers
Author: By Jacob Kaye with Queens Daily Eagle. 1/24/2025 City Hall late Friday told a federal judge that she should look no further than the current Department of Correction commissioner should she choose to strip the city of its control of Rikers Island and hand the notorious jail complex over to a receiver. The proposal, […]
The SCOC Is Failing To Keep Incarcerated People From Harlem To The Hudson Safe
Author: N/A 1/9/2025 As the 2025 legislative session kicks off, conditions in jails and prisons across the state are deadly and dangerous for incarcerated people and those who work there. The gruesome killing of Robert Brooks by correctional officers at Marcy Correctional Facility is a stark and gut-wrenching example of the State Commission of Correction […]
Fed Up: City held in contempt over jail conditions as federal judge favors receivership
By Tandy Lau from Amsterdam News Published on December 5, 2024 Federal judge Laura Taylor Swain held the City of New York in civil contempt last Wednesday, Nov. 27 for failing to properly implement court-ordered reforms in city jails, particularly on Rikers Island, stemming from a 2012 class action lawsuit over unconstitutional detainee conditions. The […]
Judge ‘Inclined’ to strip city of control of Rikers Island
By Jacob Kaye from the Queens Daily EaglePublished on November 27, 2024 A federal judge said that she was leaning toward taking the extreme measure of stripping the city of its control of Rikers Island after ruling on Wednesday that the Department of Correction violated over a dozen court orders by failing to keep detainees […]
Judge holds NYC in contempt over worsening conditions on Rikers, says Federal takeover likely
By Chris Sommerfeldt from the Daily News Published on November 27, 2024 A federal judge held New York City’s government in contempt of court Wednesday for failing to improve conditions on Rikers Island — and her scathing ruling says she’s now “inclined” to place the city’s entire correctional system under federal control. In her bombshell […]
Advocates renew calls to close Rikers Island as possible federaltakeover looms
By Courtney Gross from Spectrum News NY1 Published September 25, 2024 Lawyers for prisoners on Rikers Island continued in court Wednesday to make the same arguments they have for years — that a massive overhaul is needed to make the city’s jails safer, and a federal judge must appoint a receiver to get real change. […]
Judge directs NYC to develop plan for possible federal takeoverof Rikers Island jail
By Philip Marcelo via AP News NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday directed New York City officials to begindeveloping a plan for a possible federal takeover of Rikers Island, following a hearing inManhattan in a long-running case over abuse, mismanagement and other chronic problems at oneof the nation’s largest and most notorious […]
Advocates renew call for Rikers Island closure as judge’s decision on possible federal takeover looms
By Dean Moses via AMNY Criminal justice advocates rallied in Lower Manhattan Wednesday to demand the closure of Rikers Island as a federal judge mulls whether to hand over the city correctional facility to a federal receiver. Judge Laura Taylor Swain held a Sept. 25 at the federal courthouse and was poised to decide whether […]
