New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a bill banning solitary confinement in city jails on Friday, saying it would result in more dangerous conditions for incarcerated people and correction workers as well as denying that the practice is still used in the state.
Adams’ veto sets up yet another battle with the City Council, as it came on the same day that he vetoed police transparency legislation requiring NYPD officers to report details on low-level investigatory stops of civilians. Both measures passed with veto-proof majorities last month, though several new councilmembers elected in 2023 have assumed office since the start of the new year.
During a press conference held to announce his veto of the police transparency legislation, the mayor said “there is no such thing” as solitary confinement in New York and that the bill uses the term as a “buzzword.” Later, in a release, his office repeated concerns that provisions in the bill could inadvertently undermine safety in the city’s jails.
“There is no solitary confinement in New York state,” Adams told reporters. “Let’s stop saying that.”
Supporters of a ban on solitary confinement have challenged similar assertions since a state law strictly limiting the practice passed in 2021, and have accused jail officials of violating the restrictions, including on how long a person can be placed in isolation and which infractions can land a person there.
The City Council looks likely to override Adams’ veto of the solitary confinement bill, which passed with more than a two-thirds majority in December. Speaker Adrienne Adams signaled that possibility following the mayor’s rejection of the bill.
“The Council stands by its passage of this legislation and will take the steps to enact this law over the mayor’s veto to address the catastrophic conditions that are taking the lives of people in our city’s custody,” the speaker said in a joint statement with Sandy Nurse, the councilmember who chairs the…
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