NYC Mayor Adams Blocks Ban On Solitary Confinement One Day Before Law Took Effect

NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been receiving backlash from community advocates after he blocked a ban on solitary confinement, blocking the city council’s bill over the weekend just one day before the ban was scheduled to take effect.

Community advocate Jumaani Williams criticized the Mayor’s “11th hour” decision to block the bill, saying, “King Adams trying to show what he can do in his kingdom. You are not above the laws, Mr. Mayor. Please stop abusing your power.”

Adams issued a State of Emergency just one day before the law for the ban would take effect, which was the same ban he vetoed, but was blocked by the City Council. “All we ask for is time for the judge to analyze these parts of the bill that the monitor stated is dangerous and can bring harm”, said Adams. The Mayor alleges that the staff and other resources necessary to carry out this type of ban just isn’t available.

The ban, also known as “Local Law 42”, was passed unanimously by the City Council last year.

It limits isolation to four hours per day, that inmate in confinement must be monitored ever y15 minutes and details reports have to be presented as to why the prisoner is placed in solitary confinement on a case to case basis. It also limits the use of handcuffs and leg restraints when an inmate is being transported.

A federal monitor overseeing reforms at Riker’s Island, NYC’s central jail system and the largest jail facility on the planet, wrote in a report that “the city’s correctional department is too dysfunctional to implement solitary confinement limits.”

Adams claims that he was negotiating with the City Council’s legal team in an attempt to scale back parts of the bill, but says that the negotiation was unsuccessful.

“I’m not going to put these inmates or my employees at Riker’s Island in danger,” said the Mayor.

This month, the City Council passed a resolution that would allow the Speaker of the Council to bring legal action against the Adams Administration in order to make sure this ban goes into effect.

The post NYC Mayor Adams Blocks Ban On Solitary Confinement One Day Before Law Took Effect first appeared on The Source.

The post NYC Mayor Adams Blocks Ban On Solitary Confinement One Day Before Law Took Effect appeared first on The Source.