Crime

'I’m Going To Do Something Crazy.' Rikers Crisis Grows Worse.

Politicians already called the situation at Rikers a 'humanitarian crisis' months ago -- and now it's even worse.

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A client called me from Rikers Island over the weekend, desperate, angry, and with nowhere else to turn.

“You’re the first person I’m talking to on this new year,” he said, and “the most important.” He’s afraid he’s going to die in jail even before being found guilty of a crime.

Francisco has no criminal record and has been awaiting trial in prison since October 2018. While the charge, kidnapping, is serious, the reason he’s in jail is because he can’t make the bail and can’t get to trial due to COVID-19.

He’s usually an I-can-take-care-of-myself kind of guy in prison, but now even normally stoic Francisco is panicked about the level of disregard for human life that surrounds him.

He was recently moved from one facility to another along with all the prisoners in his unit. They were made to sit handcuffed in a prison van waiting to be “lodged” (brought to the next jail) for 10 hours without heat, water, or bathrooms.

Upon arriving at the next building, there was no clean running water. Brown liquid dripped from where they were supposed to drink. They were brought three bottles of water each for the whole week. “This is insane,” he said. “I’m gonna do something crazy. Please! I’m crying out for help. I’ve spoke to captains, I’ve spoke to deps (deputy correction officers). They don’t know what to do.”

I told him to stay calm and persevere. He responded, “How do I stay calm when water is life? They’re playing with my effing life. Just give me some clean water to use and I’ll be okay.”

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I’ve never felt this helpless in regards to my jailed clients. Politicians already called the situation at Rikers a “humanitarian crisis” months ago. A new commissioner was appointed to get things back in control. Yet instead of things getting better, they’ve gotten worse. More chaos, violence, fewer guards, no one in charge and now a COVID-19 surge. Even the healthy inmates are feeling it. And imagine the added trauma for those with mental health issues whose medical care is infrequent at best.

In a shocking letter distributed to defense attorneys on Dec. 21, 2021, the Commissioner of Corrections Vincent Schiraldi wrote of “an emerging COVID-19 crisis on Rikers Island.”

“The risks to human beings in our custody are at a crisis level,” Schiraldi wrote. Guards have gone AWOL, the toughest inmates run the wards, and engineers who fix heat and water problems are absent.

Schiraldi called the refusal of guards to be at their posts “a staffing crisis that has contributed to unprecedented levels of tension, anxiety and violence within the jails.” When he calls things “unprecedented,” you know it’s bad.

Inmates have described horrific scenes (many corroborated by video) of being forced by a kingpin inmate in the unit to fight others or be beaten themselves. That same chief-inmate determines who gets food, water, and even recreation. Guards either turn a blind eye or spray mace far and wide to quell violence. The mace contaminates the ward, hallways, and elevators for hours and causes inmates throughout the building to vomit, choke, and tear up.

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In his recent letter to us, Schiraldi stated, “I implore you.” Imagine imploring lowly criminal defense attorneys with the least amount of power in the system to “consider every available option to reduce the number of individuals in our jail.”

Doesn’t he realize it’s the judges who reduce bail and prosecutors who lower charges or dismiss cases? Right now, it feels like all we’re doing is tilting harder at windmills.

Judges, prosecutors, politicians, and citizens must confront this continuing humanitarian crisis. Crying out for help, Schiraldi told the New York Times, “I don’t think society really cares [about prisoners] and that reflects itself in who we hire, who we keep and who we support, how much time and energy elected officials put into this. The department can’t fix this by itself.”

Rikers is sinking into a situation worse than the darkest Russian gulag or Chinese detention center.

It’s easy to turn a blind eye when those impacted are people charged with crimes. But, every person at Rikers is somebody’s child, parent, or sibling. All have yet to be found guilty of a crime (unless serving misdemeanor sentences.) Many of the charges against them are overblown and unsubstantiated. The majority are there because they’re poor and can’t afford the high bail set by the court and requested by the prosecutors.

What’s been OK in the past is no longer OK. Because of the state of things at Rikers, setting bail as usual based on the nature of the accusation rather than the person’s ability to pay, is subjecting these inmates to violence, illness, and even death.

Only one judge so far has had the courage to find that conditions at Rikers violated the inmate’s Eighth Amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. She released him with an ankle bracelet. Judge April Newbauer wrote that even though the Department of Corrections (DOC) objected to the inmate’s release fearing it would “open the floodgates” to challenges from other detainees, “courts cannot shrink from the obligation to rectify constitutional violations against incarcerated individuals.”

She found that the DOC “utterly failed the public as well as [the inmate] by ignoring the looming threat of a crisis at Rikers Island, by delaying emergency measures as staff shortages increased, and by not adopting an “all-hands-on deck” approach to this entirely foreseeable crisis.”

As more people die or are injured at Rikers or commit new crimes either to protect themselves or because there’s no supervision, rectifying the situation is not something we defense attorneys can do — it can only be accomplished by those with the power to review bail. No longer can the horrific conditions be ignored or dismissed as mere exaggerations by angry inmates.  Even the DOC commissioner himself has acknowledged failure and requested help.

Bold action and new approaches are what’s necessary. It’s up to judges and prosecutors to have the courage to see this.

Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.

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