Next Thursday (3/7): Info Session on Rikers and Receivership
Join us next 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!
For years, community groups and advocates have worked to reduce the city’s jail population and shut down Rikers. As the crisis worsens with excessive levels of violence and at least 30 deaths in city jails since Mayor Adams took office, the federal courts are becoming more deeply involved and could order an independent receiver to take control of Rikers.
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 on Thursday, 3/7 at noon to learn more about federal receivership
At the receivership info session, you’ll:
- Learn about federal receivership: what it is, how it works, and why it’s being discussed for Rikers
- Discuss how an independent federal receiver could impact the fight to shut down Rikers
- Get action steps to be involved in the fight
If you’ve got questions or concerns about federal receivership, please join us on 3/7. We expect a robust Q/A session.
To see the full list of groups and officials that have come out in support of a receiver at Rikers, check out this support list.
And if your organization wants to join the call for a federal receiver, you can do so by filling out this organizational sign-on form..
Please join us! If you have any questions, please contact Yonah Zeitz at yonah@katalcenter.org
Katal Member Luke Calling for Receivership
Katal Member, Danielle, in News on Rikers
Last week, our member Danielle Lynn Shanks-Efuntosin spoke with News12 about how her son has failed to receive adequate mental health care while incarcerated at Rikers. Her son’s schizophrenia medication, which must be administered at exact times, is instead regularly given several hours late, impacting his health. He was forced to wear dirty clothes for weeks.
Danielle’s family is one of thousands going through these horrors, because Rikers has become the city’s largest mental health facility. More than 50 percent of people incarcerated there have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, yet like Danielle’s son, they have little or no access to meaningful care while they are locked up. This is unacceptable. Rikers must be shut down and the city must invest in quality mental health care in the community.
Katal Quotes of the Week
Katal Quotes of the Week
These are some of the quotes we’re thinking about this week.
“One day, I know the struggle will change. There’s got to be a change – not only for Mississippi, not only for the people in the United States, but people all over the world.” – Fannie Lou Hamer
“We are all one—and if we don’t know it, we will learn it the hard way.” –Bayard Rustin
For printing and distribution,
download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.
Katal works to strengthen the people, policies, institutions, and movements that advance equity, health, and justice. Join us: web, Twitter, Facebook! Email: info@katalcenter.org Phone: 64 6.875.8822.
