Tag: Rikers
Business Insider: A Rikers Island inmate contracted coronavirus. Experts say jails are at high risk for an outbreak.
Inmates there and around New York City have lodged complaints that the jails lack “basic sanitation measures,” according to the Legal Aid Society. “There are broken sinks, there’s no hand sanitizer, people don’t have access to soap,” Justine Olderman, executive director of Bronx Defenders, told The Intercept. “And at a time we’re all being asked to […]
New York Magazine: Will Rikers Island Free Inmates Because of the Coronavirus?
“The only way we can possibly keep incarcerated people safe is to release them,” said Justine Olderman, executive director of the Bronx Defenders. “The next best thing is to drastically reduce the number of people being held. Neither of those things are being done right now. As public defenders, what we’re actually seeing happen is […]
The Indypendent: Four New Jails For $10 Billion: Now is the Time For NYC to Invest in Communities Not Cages
“Some former members of the Close Rikers movement such as the Bronx Defenders and VOCAL-NY pulled out because they felt that the plan lacked any real investment in new community-based services such as affordable housing and community-based mental health programs. They also objected to spending money on building institutions that they view as fundamentally harmful.” […]
Law360: Closing Rikers May Pave New Path For Mentally Ill Inmates
“New York City’s move to close the notorious prison Rikers Island could be an important step in making sure people suffering from mental illnesses, who make up half of America’s incarcerated population of 2.3 million, aren’t lost in the criminal justice system, according to speakers at an event on the problems of mass incarceration… Roberts […]
Bronx Defenders’ Revised Statement on the Closing of Rikers Island and the Creation of Borough-Based Jails
The Bronx Defenders strongly supports closing Rikers Island and the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center (“the Boat”). The conditions within these facilities are inhumane and there is no solution but to permanently close them. We, nevertheless, retract our original statement that supported replacing Rikers and the Boat with borough-based jails and have decided that we […]
The City: No Green Space In Sight At Bronx Youth Detention Center
“Justice watchdogs said the youths at the facility don’t have time to waste in getting access to the full expanse of open space, which before the construction project included a garden and even chickens. Robyn Goldberg of the Bronx Defenders remembers her clients participating in the gardening program at Horizon before renovations began — and […]
CNN: Prosecutors want to move Manafort to Rikers Island
“Violence comes in all forms, from other people who are incarcerated there to violence at the hands of corrections officers” – Alice Fontier, our Criminal Defense Managing Director. Watch the full video here