Closing Rikers Must Mean Ending Solitary Confinement | Amsterdam News

Mayor Bill de Blasio is determined to close the detention complex at Rikers Island, a priority many New Yorkers rightfully support. But his well-intended plan to replace Rikers with four smaller borough-based jails has thus far been silent about how it will prevent the same culture of violence and brutality from taking root inside the new facilities. Case in point: There is no commitment to ending solitary confinement, condemned as shockingly abusive by civil rights and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the Center for Constitution Rights where I previously served as Executive Director. Continue reading.