CRISIS AT RIKERS ISLAND.

• Author: Ciaramella, C.J.
• Position: CIVIL LIBERTIES - Rikers Island, New York, New York

RIKERS ISLAND, THE infamous jail complex where New York City has incarcerated people since 1932, has always been a problem. But in 2021, the institutional rot and dysfunction cascaded into a full-blown catastrophe.

As of October, 12 inmates had died at Rikers in 2021, five in suspected suicides. That's the most since 2005. A New York state senator said lawmakers touring Rikers in September saw a man trying to kill himself. A public defender who toured the jail told The Intercept that inmates in one segregated intake unit were locked in small showers and given plastic bags to defecate into.

Meanwhile, widespread and unauthorized staff absences have left the jail dangerously shorthanded. In a September letter to the New York City Council, Rikers' chief medical officer warned that "in 2021 we have witnessed a collapse in basic jail operations, such that today I do not believe the City is capable of safely managing the custody of those it is charged with incarcerating in its jails."

In a September court hearing before a U.S. District Court judge, a federal monitor revealed widespread security lapses, failures to help inmates who were trying to commit suicide in plain view of officers, and a small guard rotation working double and triple shifts. Meanwhile, use of force by officers, inmate-on-inmate violence, and inmate-on-guard assaults have all increased.

"This state of seriously...