Federal Judge Orders NYC to Hand Over Jail System to Outside Official

The order says that that official is responsible for the ’remediation of the ongoing violations of the constitutional rights ... in the New York City jails.’

Rikers Island, New York's biggest lockup, on June 20, 2014. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

A federal judge on Tuesday issued an order allowing an outside official to take control of the New York City jail system, including the troubled Rikers Island facility, and tasked that official with rectifying “ongoing violations” at those facilities and reporting updates to the court.

In a 77-page decision issued on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote that the official will be tasked with supporting the “remediation of the ongoing violations of the constitutional rights of people in custody in the New York City jails.”