For years, community groups and advocates have worked to reduce the city’s jail population and shut down Rikers. That work continues. Now, as the crisis worsens and the death toll rises, the federal courts are becoming more deeply involved and could order an independent receiver to take control of Rikers.

As the Brennan Center for Justice describes, “When a local or state government proves unable or unwilling to improve a distressed public institution that has long defied federal law, a federal court can take the troubled entity out of the government’s hands and appoint a ‘receiver’ – a nonpartisan expert – to assume direct control, with an eye towards reform.”

A federal receiver is not a panacea but could cut through the red tape and political obstacles that contribute to the ongoing cycle of chaos at Rikers and improve conditions for people incarcerated and employed there.

Join us on Thursday, March 7, 2024, to learn more about what a receiver is and how it could impact efforts to shut Rikers. Register here for the info session!

People and families directly impacted by Rikers, along with community and advocacy groups, know that the jail complex must be shut down – and until then, we must do everything we can to improve the conditions for people who are detained there and who work there. That is why a growing number of community groups and city, state, and federal officials are calling for a federal receiver to take over at Rikers. Please join us!

For a full list of groups and officials that have come out in support of a receiver at Rikers, check out this fact sheet. 

To add your group to the list, sign up here. 

If you have any questions, please contact Yonah Zeitz at yzeitz@katalcenter.org