NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Commends Judge Swain’s Ruling on Rikers Federal Remediation Manager
Comptroller Lander was the first citywide elected to call for receivership in 2022
New York, NY—New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement:
“Appointing an independent remediation manager is a serious indictment of the decades of mismanagement at Rikers. Today, Judge Laura Swain made the necessary decision to appoint a manager with their own substantial discretion to turn around the deplorable conditions for those detained and those who work at Rikers.
“Rikers has become synonymous with human rights abuse. Over a hundred people detained have died awaiting trial in the last decade—at points in its history, being sent to Rikers was roulette of a death sentence without regard for basic constitutional rights to a trial.
“Appointing a federal receiver or remediation manager will not magically fix all of the jail complex’s problems, and I still believe closing Rikers and replacing it with the borough-based jails is the right step. But the current system is too mired in its own mayhem to be fixed by any one Mayor or administration, so a receiver outside of Rikers’ intractable legal and regulatory barriers has the best chance to achieve basic safety and security for incarcerated people and staff.”
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