Feds should take control of Rikers Island

Rikers Island, the center of New York City’s jail system, remains in critical condition. The latest inmate death on Sunday was the seventh this year. The place has long proved too violent and too unsafe — for inmates and staff alike — as well as unsanitary, poorly serviced, and chaotically administered.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams last week called the long-lived Rikers crisis “a collective failure with deep roots, spanning multiple mayoral administrations.” He said the federal court judge considering the appointment of a receiver should take it over. That seems to be the best, if not the only good option.

This is beyond a New York City inmate problem. Rikers' chaos is a problem for the region’s courts, police, prosecutors, and defense lawyers as well as the almost 6,000 inmates in custody there. 

Debate lingers in Albany over the degree of discretion judges should have in deciding whether inmates should receive bail or be held, and under what circumstances. Despite recent tweaks in the law, how many arraigning judges in New York City reflexively balk at holding defendants if they see detention at Rikers as a trip to the inferno?

Better-run, smaller jails such as Suffolk County’s can help turn local inmates around. Sheriff Errol Toulon, who oversees its modern facilities, touts available substance abuse, job training and education programs as key. But as Toulon says, inmates can’t be reached and guided if released too quickly and unconditionally. And such programs can't work at Rikers under current conditions. It’s no help that Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027. The city will still need to build a reliable correction system.

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said in a court filing last week that Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has yet to “address the dangerous conditions that perpetually plague the jails and imperil those who are confined and who work there.” She questioned the city’s ability to clean them up. Adams reacted defensively, noting a federal monitor already overseeing the agency’s operations has acknowledged positive changes by his office. But that monitor, Steve J. Martin, also has cited “continued cause for alarm” on Rikers. Adams should cooperate and cede control.

The performance of the Rikers labor force has been dismal. Absenteeism among correction officers has been out of control. COVID-19 worsened things. Cases of inmate abuse and corruption such as contraband smuggling abound. Morale is so low that employees have reportedly quit in droves. Meantime, veteran officers credibly complain that measures to keep violent inmates apart have been eviscerated.

A federal receiver could override state and local laws — and current officers’ contracts if needed — to shake up the structure. There will be hearings in federal court next month. It shouldn't take much longer than that to see the city does not have the tools to solve the Rikers crisis.