Jail staff will no longer be allowed to lock up Rikers detainees alone for long stretches of time, after the City Council voted on Wednesday to ban the use of solitary confinement in New York City jails.
The fiercely debated bill, which was sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, requires all people in city custody to have at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time daily in shared spaces going forward.
“No one leaves solitary confinement whole,” Williams said, addressing the Council Criminal Justice Committee ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “It is cruel, it is inhumane, it can ruin people’s lives and too many don’t survive.”
The vote follows a long-simmering debate over banning solitary confinement in New York City that has stalled the legislation for years.
Mayor Eric Adams said he opposed the bill and urged councilmembers to vote against it, but has not said whether he will veto. The council passed the bill with 39 out of 51 votes — enough to override if Adams did veto.
Correction officers have fiercely opposed the law, saying they need to be able to isolate dangerous detainees to keep jails safe amid slashings and sexual assaults against officers.
In response to the bill’s passage on Wednesday, Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said the union was exploring all legal options.
“We will hold any councilmember who supported this reckless legislation responsible for the inevitable surge in attacks on our officers in the wake of today’s vote,” he said. “Shame on them!”
Advocates have long argued for the rights of incarcerated people who were indefinitely locked alone in cells or caged showers, resulting in extreme psychological trauma or even death.
“By effectively banning the torture of solitary confinement in all its forms in our city jails, the City Council has taken action that will save New Yorkers’ lives,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, as she urged the…
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