The New York City Council voted on Wednesday to approve new legislation that would ban most uses of solitary confinement in city jails, arguing the practice is “inhumane.”
Under the measure, detainees who pose a “significant risk of imminent serious physical injury to themselves or others” will be allowed to be placed into “de-escalation confinement” for a maximum of four hours after an episode of violence.
Throughout the de-escalation confinement, the detainee must also have access to a tablet or device, allowing them to make phone calls outside of the facility and to medical staff in the facility.
Jail staff must also conduct “visual and aural observation” of the individual in de-escalation confinement every 15 minutes, and must refer any health concerns to medical or mental health staff, and take the detainee to a medical clinic if they are showing any signs of needing medical help.
Suicide prevention aides may conduct check-ins with a person in de-escalation confinement at least every 15 minutes and refer any health concerns to department staff, according to the measure, which notes that “no suicide prevention aide shall face any retaliation or other harm for carrying out their role.”
Additionally, the measure states that all incarcerated individuals in city custody must have at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time in shared spaces and be allowed to congregate with others and move about their housing area freely during the out-of-cell time. They must also have access to education and programming.
Solitary Confinement ‘Inhumane’
Wednesday’s measure also states that jail officials may not place an incarcerated person in restrictive housing for “longer than necessary” and for no more than 60 days in any 12-month period.Ms. Adams said the physical and psychological harm caused by solitary confinement leads to increased death and violence in jails while endangering both the incarcerated and correction officers and staff.
“When formerly incarcerated New Yorkers eventually return to their communities, the lasting trauma of solitary confinement follows them home, and affects us all as neighbors and members of a shared community,” said Ms. Adams.
Elsewhere, public advocate Mr. Williams said solitary confinement is “inhumane,” and its presence in New York City is “indefensible.”
“Committing an infraction in jail can cause you to lose privileges, not basic human rights. People in solitary are isolated, denied human contact and connection, denied support, and come out of these deplorable conditions worse than when they went in – and some don’t come out at all,” Mr. Williams said.
The measure, however, faces opposition from Mayor Eric Adams, a retired captain of the New York Police Department, who has signaled he may veto the bill.
“In every City Council district in this city, our officers will be forced to spend more time in their cars and on their phones, and less time walking the streets and engaging with New Yorkers,” he said.
Mr. Adams further noted his administration “does not support solitary confinement in our jails, and New York City has not used the practice for years” but that the recent measure “will also point us in the wrong direction.”
“Under this bill, the Department of Correction will no longer be able to protect people in custody, or the predominantly Black and Brown union workers charged with their safety, from violent individuals. Furthermore, this bill raises serious potential conflicts with directions that the Department of Correction has received from the federal monitor,” Mr. Adams said.
Mr. Adams added that his administration is currently “reviewing all options” regarding the bill.
The issue of solitary confinement has taken on renewed scrutiny in recent years amid a number of deaths at the violence-plagued Rikers Island jail complex and other prisons across New York City; some of which experts have linked to the prolonged use of solitary confinement.
