The current deaths of two Black New Yorkers held on Rikers Island push the infamous jail complicated’s dying depend this yr to 6, double since July began.
Curtis Davis, 44, was pronounced lifeless shortly after he was discovered unresponsive in his cell through the early morning this previous Sunday, July 23. He entered NYC Division of Corrections (DOC) custody on June 1 and was held on the George R. Vierno Heart (GRVC) jail.
“It’s nonetheless an investigation—we all know that,” stated Mayor Eric Adams on Monday. “And we don’t know the reason for dying. The [medical examiner] will make that dedication. And each dying needs to be taken significantly and each dying is a tragedy.”
William Johnstone was equally discovered unresponsive in his GRVC cell on July 15, the weekend earlier than. The 47-year-old man was transported to Mount Sinai Queens, the place he was pronounced lifeless two hours later. The DOC couldn’t find Johnstone’s subsequent of kin on the time of the incident report.
July is the deadliest month to date in New York Metropolis jails this yr, with 4 individuals dying in custody. Three have been held on Rikers. The complicated’s different three deaths befell over the primary six months of 2023: 40-year-old Felix Taveras died on Rikers through the Fourth of July vacation from a medical situation,and several other jail staff have been reportedly suspended over “procedural violations” after the incident; Ricky Howell, 60, died in DOC custody however outdoors of Rikers. He was held in Manhattan’s Bellevue Jail Ward Hospital, identified with terminal most cancers earlier than he was detained.
Between the six Rikers deaths and that of Howell, seven individuals have died this yr in or instantly after DOC custody. However there’s an asterisk subsequent to the depend from the NYC Comptroller’s Workplace, as a result of division’s current transparency rollbacks. Metropolis jail deaths are now not proactively reported to the media. All this follows a lethal 2022, when 19 individuals died in or instantly after DOC custody.
After Davis’s dying, Adams pointed to psychological well being points as a key issue for Rikers’ issues. However decarceration advocates squarely blame his administration and insurance policies.
“The mayor is aware of that Curtis Davis, like hundreds of different individuals at Rikers, was at nice danger, hurt, and dying each day he was there, and Adams is telling New Yorkers he’s wonderful with that—however we’re not,” stated Freedom Agenda co-director Darren Mack. “Twenty-six New Yorkers have misplaced their lives in NYC jails as a direct results of the mayor’s selections to slash and starve important providers, whereas giving legislation enforcement a clean test.”
“These state-imposed deaths are coverage selections, and this horrific disaster should cease now,” stated #HALTsolitary Marketing campaign co-director Victor Pate. “Electeds and officers should act instantly to launch individuals, cease sending individuals to those lethal jails, finish solitary confinement and different abuses, and shut down Rikers and this whole jailing system now.”
Suggestions for federal receivership—which might take Rikers Island jails out of metropolis fingers—have been renewed after U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams backed the measure final week. The federal prosecutor’s choice stems from a dissent decree in 2015’s Nunez litigation that required the DOC to deal with unsafe situations via beneficial reforms, which he discovered unsatisfactory.
“Rikers Island has been in disaster for years,” stated Williams. “It is a collective failure with deep roots, spanning a number of mayoral administrations and DOC commissioners. However after eight years of making an attempt each device within the toolkit, we can not wait any longer for substantial progress to materialize. That’s the reason my workplace will search a court-appointed receiver to deal with the situations on Rikers Island.”
To be clear, a federal receiver doesn’t imply the federal authorities will run Rikers, in keeping with activist DeRay Mckesson, who advocated for one to the Amsterdam Information final yr. As an alternative, a impartial third-party fiduciary appointed by a decide would take over and oversee the jails. A monitor was equally assigned from the 2015 case and presently audits Rikers Island, however lacks the authority to make govt selections like a receiver.
Rikers Island is legally mandated to shut by 2027, with 4 borough-based jails stepping in to deal with its remaining detainee inhabitants. However there are pace bumps, as a result of the quartet of services can solely home roughly 3,300 individuals mixed—and 6,081 individuals have been held in metropolis jails initially of the month. Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public security for the Amsterdam Information. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps preserve him writing tales like this one; please contemplate making a tax-deductible present of any quantity as we speak by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
