Solitary Confinement For 24 Hours To Be Scrapped In NYC Jails

NEW YORK CITY — The NYC Board of Corrections unanimously voted to end 22- to 24-hour solitary confinement—otherwise known as "punitive segregation"— in city jails on Tuesday. The change will go into effect this fall.

The practice of solitary confinement will instead be replaced by a new model, called the Risk Management Accountability System (RMAS). The system calls for reforms like a minimum of 10 hours outside of cells—bringing confinement down to 12 to 14 hours.

The new rule reads that the Board of Corrections "recognized the harmful and long-term impacts of extreme isolation and idleness that have been the hallmarks of punitive segregation in the City jails. At the same time, the Board emphasized that the primary goal of all stakeholders — maintaining the safety of staff and people in custody — could only be achieved by simultaneously ending PSEG and implementing an alternative disciplinary system that keeps all those who work or reside in the jails safe."

"A few years ago this city was gripped by the tragedy of Kalief Browder, a young man who committed a very small crime, was held in Rikers Island for way too long, and kept in solitary confinement. He later took his own life," said Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday.

"It's one of many examples of why solitary confinement corrodes the human soul and creates immense mental health challenges, when we're supposed to be in fact rehabilitating people and preparing them to reenter society and live a peaceful life. So, we made the decision that it was time to end solitary confinement in our jails once and for all."

Several statements de Blasio made warrant further clarity.

Rikers Island, in fact, will not be seeing these same reforms because it's one of the facilities overseen by the Department of Corrections, whereas the Board of Corrections oversees city jails.

A 2018 Rikers study found that people who had spent time in solitary confinement were almost seven times more likely to attempt to commit acts of self-harm “during the days they were not in solitary confinement,” compared to others never placed in solitary confinement.

And while the length of solitary confinement has been decreased, incarcerated individuals who commit particular offenses will still be held in confinement.

The new rules, as they stand, evolved into a "two-level progression model" from the original proposal, which called for a "three-level progression model."

Under the new model, a person may be placed in solitary confinement if they commit offenses listed in two categories.

Level 1, or "Grade I" violent offenses, which include stabbing, slashing or assault of a person causing serious injury. Offenders go straight to Level 1 confinement, and then supposedly move to Level 2 confinement after 15 days.

Level 2, "Grade II" infractions include non-violent conduct such as making, possessing, selling or exchanging any amount of a narcotic, narcotic paraphernalia or other controlled substance. Offenders would go directly to Level 2 confinement for up to 15 days, and then move out of solitary confinement.

There should be only 30 days or less spent in solitary confinement—up to 15 days in Level 1 and up to 15 days in Level 2. However, the new rules do allow the Department of Corrections to extend a person’s time in each level "if there is a clear threat to safety."

The Legal Aid Society, a criminal justice nonprofit that's campaigned to limit solitary and isolated confinement in prisons and jails, are calling the reforms foul play.

Mary Lynne Werlwas, director of the Prisoners’ Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society, stated on Tuesday that the Board of Correction's vote "belies the promises of reform of the broken, abusive system of punishment and isolation."

"The new rules re-brand punishment as the ‘Risk Management Accountability System’ but maintain fundamentally punitive features," Werlwas said in the statement.

"Most critically, the rules provide no limit on how long an incarcerated person may be sentenced to these cages, as the rules give the Department permission to extend a sentence forever, without ever disclosing the secret information that purportedly justifies this deprivation."

Patch previously reported that "positive alternatives" to punishment include giving inmates a minimum of 10 hours out of a cell and the opportunity to socialize with at least one person; individualized behavioral support plans; and ending the use of routine restraint desks, a security device that ankle-cuffs individuals to desks bolted to the floor.

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• Solitary Confinement Nears End In NYC Jails, Officials Say

The updated "two-level progression model" will also provide attorneys for infraction hearings and daily check-ins with health and mental health staff.

People with serious mental illness, people with an intellectual disability, pregnant women and people caring for a child in the nursery program are excluded from being placed in solitary confinement.

“The Board’s action to end solitary confinement is the culmination of four years of work with experts, including individuals with lived experience, practitioners, families, officers and advocates," said Meg Egan, Board of Corrections executive director in a statement.

[Public hearings and written comments on the Board's research on solitary confinement can be found here.]

The Board of Corrections worked in collaboration with the Working Group to End Punitive Segregation, led by Board Vice-Chair Stanley Richards, Department of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann, Just Leadership USA President DeAnna Hoskins and the Corrections Officer Benevolent Association president Benny Boscio.

Boscio said in a statement after the Board's vote that the decision "sent a very dangerous message to every violent inmate. Just this past year, our jail population has seen a 23 percent increase in inmates facing serious violent felonies. Removing our ability to separate violent inmates from the general population just made this crisis 100 times worse.”

But Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi of the Department of Correction said the new model emphasizes rehabilitation and reintegration over punitive punishment.

"The RMAS model is all about increasing safety without sacrificing accountability, and aimed at returning people to as normalized an environment as quickly as safely possible," said Schiraldi. "Through this new approach, we intend to provide the tools people need to return to general population, and this model will only improve as we move towards more program-rich and humane facilities."

Regular and public reporting on the RMAS by the Department of Corrections will be required.

In another move away from punitive punishment, the state legislature on Thursday passed the Less is More Act. The Act creates reforms in the parole system, namely ending re-incarceration for parolees if they don't make curfew, or don't notify parole officers of a change in employment.