Eight years after entering into a historic agreement with New York City to force reforms at Rikers Island, the federal government has effectively declared the multi-million effort a failure as Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said Monday that he will seek to have the jails system taken over by the federal government.
If approved by a federal judge, such a takeover would involve the installation of a federal receiver who would wrest decision-making powers from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and possibly scrap union agreements and other long-standing work rules. The announcement comes two days after the death of William Johnstone, the 25th person to die in city custody or shortly after being released since Adams came into office last year.
“This is a collective failure with deep roots, spanning multiple mayoral administrations and [Department of Correction] commissioners,” Williams said in a brief statement. “But after eight years of trying every tool in the toolkit, we cannot wait any longer for substantial progress to materialize.”
The mayor has said he opposes any such takeover, and before Williams’ announcement on Monday, he heaped praise on Correction Commissioner Louis Molina, saying he is doing a “goddamn good job.”
But when it comes to management of the jails, Adams and Molina have few allies beyond the correction officers’ unions. The city comptroller, public advocate, several council members and public defender organizations have all demanded a receiver in recent months.
The prospect of a receiver will come before U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain on Aug. 10.
The federal courts have had direct involvement in Rikers since 2015, when one of Williams’ predecessors, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, entered into a consent decree with the city to resolve violations of constitutional rights of those held in city jails. Almost all people incarcerated are pre-trial, so they have not yet been convicted of crimes.
The consent…
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