NY Attorney General Letitia James backs federal court takeover of Rikers Island, other NYC jails

New York Attorney General Letitia James threw her office’s considerable influence Friday behind a court-ordered takeover of Rikers Island and other city lockups.

In a letter to Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, James argued that only receivership can fix decades of dysfunction in the city’s beleaguered jail system.

“A receiver is needed to effectuate the safety and order required under State and (city) minimum standards,” said the letter signed by Assistant Attorneys General Louisa Irving and Lois Saldana.

“We respectfully ask the court to … order receivership, and any other additional actions necessary to resolve the crisis and create safety in NYC jails.”

The city Law Department and the Correction Department did not have immediate comment on the filing.

Swain is presiding over Nunez v. City of New York, a class action lawsuit filed in 2011 over violence and excessive staff use of force. In 2015, the city agreed to a consent decree with the Department of Justice which created a monitor to track improvements.

James’ letter is one of a series of briefs expected to be filed in support of a Nov. 17 motion by the Legal Aid Society and a letter from Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams seeking federal receivership for New York City’s jails. The briefs were due Friday.

The AG’s letter notes six detainees have died in the past six months on Rikers Island, and details troubling facts about jail deaths in 2021 and 2022.

“It has become clear that the dangerous conditions that have plagued DOC [city Department of Correction] jails for many years continue to this day,” the letter said. “Of particular concern is DOC’s persistent failure to ensure adequate supervision of people in custody.”

The letter cites a series of breakdowns that contributed to deaths, including failures by correction officers to conduct their rounds, failures to properly supervise and staff jail posts, and the falsification of records to cover up posts that are unstaffed.

In one case, after Esias Johnson, 24, died of a methadone overdose on Sept. 7, 2021, investigators found officers failed to do their rounds for a six-hour period. Rigor mortis, which takes from two to eight hours after death, was setting in when Johnson was found.

Investigators with James’ office found that a correction officer “falsely noted in the logbook that ‘active supervision’ was conducted every 30 minutes as required” by city rules, James’ letter says.

The death of Tarz Youngblood on Feb. 27, 2022 followed a similar pattern. In that case, officers conducted just one tour over three hours before he was carried out of his cell by other detainees.

Mary Yehudah, who died May 18, 2022 of severe diabetic shock, was moaning in pain all night before she was found unresponsive on the floor of her cell.

“Unstaffed posts, failure to conduct rounds, and failure to render prompt first aid were persistent problems identified in our investigations,” the AG’s letter said.

“These failures are unacceptable and are a result of the DOC’s inability to provide the most basic requirement for running a jail—direct supervision.”

James first raised serious concerns about Rikers conditions and detainee deaths in 2021, the letter notes.

Also Friday, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a brief supporting receivership that scored “the aggressive effort by City officials to block the Court, other oversight bodies, and the public from access to vital information about the operation of the City’s jail system and about the plight of those trapped in that system.”

The letter, by NYCLU lawyers Molly Biklen and Christopher Dunn, said a receiver would provide “this court and the public an important opportunity to increase transparency into the humanitarian crisis.”

Under receivership, Swain would select an outside person — likely a lawyer, judge or correction professional — to run all or parts of the jail system with powers laid out by her.

City officials say they will fight the push for receivership by James, the Manhattan U.S. attorney, and groups advocating for detainees.

“This administration has made progress in many areas to address the deeply rooted problems at Rikers that have existed for generations,” said Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the city Law Department. “We are committed to building upon that work and we do not believe a receivership is the solution to fixing the city’s jail system and we are prepared to fight this in court.”

The city is expected in January to file a formal motion opposing receivership that likely will be followed by additional legal wrangling before Swain makes a decision.