Rikers Crisis Highlights Urgent Need for Criminal Justice Reform
Photo Courtesy of Charlie Schuman
A humanitarian crisis continues to unfold on Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex, as public officials, criminal justice advocates, corrections officers, and families of the incarcerated demand immediate action. A recent increase in violence and an alarming number of deaths among those in city custody—13 so far this year, including five suicides—make it clear that conditions are spiraling out of control.
Multiple factors have contributed to the crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic has compounded existing problems. Severe staffing shortages have caused a breakdown of basic operations. In addition, resistance by judges and district attorneys to bail reform and delays in the court system have led to a huge backup of people being held at Rikers.
Numerous public officials visited the island in September and were shocked by what they witnessed: severe overcrowding, cells covered in feces and urine, and inmates denied access to food, water, and medical attention. One of the largest jail complexes in the world, Rikers currently has close to 6,000 inmates, and has always had a bad reputation. But U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, whose district includes the South Bronx, said that current conditions at Rikers are “more hellish and nightmarish than ever before.”
Mayor Bill DeBlasio, who has faced harsh criticism over the crisis, finally visited Rikers himself on September 27th, 2021 for the first time since 2017. He refused to offer details about what he witnessed, but admitted that “work needs to be done.” He also released an emergency plan for addressing the most urgent problems. However, many believe that more action is needed. Regular protests continue outside of City Hall and Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. One sign held by demonstrators read “Rikers is a Death Sentence.”
The city plans to close Rikers completely by 2026, but many think it should be closed sooner. JoAnne Page, President of the Fortune Society, a non-profit organization that supports formerly incarcerated people, believes that closing Rikers and cutting down on the overuse of jails could “dramatically change how much human damage we do.” She said that “smaller, borough-based jails make sense” and that jails should “support rehabilitation and treat people decently.”
For those at Riverdale who support criminal justice reform, the Rikers crisis reflects long-term systemic problems. “Rikers was already dehumanizing inmates,” said Rebecca Zimmerman, Upper School history teacher and advisor to Riverdale’s End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC) club, “but the particular overlay of Covid on all jails, the staffing shortages, and the blatant lack of care for suffering inmates is disgraceful.”
Senior Ella Neuwirth, who interned with the Federal Defenders of New York for the past two summers, has witnessed first-hand “how much our criminal justice system is plagued by inequality and racism” and thinks “it’s a shame that it takes a global pandemic to make these issues visible.” She noted that the vast majority of detainees at Rikers are awaiting trial and have not yet been found guilty. They are presumed innocent under the law. “Regardless of your views on mercy, punishment, or criminal justice,” Neuwirth said, “I don’t think that anyone would agree that somebody who is innocent should be experiencing this horrific treatment.”
Junior Harry Gallen, student leader of Riverdale’s EPIC club, agrees that Rikers “symbolizes every failure of the prison-industrial complex.” Gallen visited Rikers over the summer and talked with staff members there. He said, “it’s easy for news about prisons to slip through the cracks,” despite the fact that America has the largest number of incarcerated citizens in the world, numbering roughly two million (about 0.7% of America’s population). He and other EPIC members plan to take action this year through lobbying, attending protests, and possibly staging a walkout.
Page hopes that New York State will continue to move forward with progressive criminal justice reforms. She praised Governor Kathy Hochul for her response to the Rikers crisis and her recent signing of the Less is More Act, which reduces incarceration for technical parole violations. Page believes that high school students can also play an important role in pushing for change. “If you care about social justice and issues like racism,” she said, “the criminal justice system is where change is most needed.” Page volunteered in jails and prisons as a teenager, which led to a long career in criminal justice reform and advocacy. “Once you start, you realize how important this work is,” she said. “If you put a human face on injustice, it gives you fire to fight it.”
