NYLPI Joins Letter to NYC Mayor and DOC Commissioner to Implement Local Law 42 and End Solitary Confinement in NYC

NYLPI joins advocates and coalition partners in signing a letter urging Mayor Eric Adams and the DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie to fully and effectively implement Local Law 42 and finally end solitary confinement in NYC jails. The letter also calls on all local and state officials to release people from the dysfunctional and deadly jail systems:

"We, the undersigned, are urging you to act immediately to fully and effectively implement Local Law 42 in order to stop torture, improve safety for everyone, and save lives. It is long past time for NYC to end solitary confinement. DOC must act now to implement Local Law 42 to finally do so and utilize alternative forms of separation proven to reduce violence and better protect people's health.

Solitary confinement is torture. It causes devastating and deadly harm and worsens safety for everyone. In NYC, it is almost exclusively inflicted on Black and Latinx people. Solitary leads to heart disease, anxiety, depression, psychosis, self-harm, and death. Solitary in NYC jails has killed so many people, including Kalief Browder, Layleen Polanco, Brandon Rodriguez, Elijah Muhammad, Erick Tavira, Bradley Ballard, Jason Echeverria, Carina Montes, and countless others.

Alternative forms of separation, like the original CAPS and PACE programs in NYC jails, the former Merle Cooper Program in NYS, and the original RSVP program in San Francisco jails, have been scientifically proven to reduce violence and better protect people's health and well-being. For example, the RSVP program led to a precipitous drop in violence among participants to the point of having zero incidents over a one year period and dramatically lower rates of re-arrest after release from jail.

In line with this longstanding evidence, Local Law 42 rightfully bans solitary beyond four hours and instead allows proven alternative forms of separation with access to 14 hours of real daily out of cell time with group programming and activities. An overwhelming supermajority of the New York City Council enacted Local Law 42 and the jails oversight body, the Board of Correction, unanimously adopted rules to implement Local Law 42.

Now it is time for DOC to implement the law, bring in outside experts who have designed successful interventions like the RSVP program in San Francisco jails, and start operating that type of intervention and programming.

Beyond ending solitary, we urge you - and all local and state officials - to act now to release people from New York City's jails, stop sending people to these deadly jails, and protect the human rights of all New Yorkers. New York City jails have faced an acute and deadly humanitarian crisis for years, on top of an already decades-long history of racism, torture, and brutality. New York City jails have killed at least 31 people since January 2022 and 47 people since January 2021. Over half of all people in the city jails have diagnosed mental health needs. The vast majority of people in NYC jails are there pre-trial, awaiting their day in court; everyone else has a sentence of less than one year. Yet, people are spending months and years in New York City jails. Urgent action is needed to immediately reduce the number of people jailed in NYC.

Thank you for your consideration."

Read more in Gothamist.

Photo: Aerial shot of Rikers Island.

LATEST NEWS

Take Action

Here's what you can do right now for justice in New York…

TAKE ACTION

Stay up to date

Get updates on our cases and campaigns, and join us in taking action for justice…

SIGN UP