With Reforms, Rikers Housing Unit Can Improve Prison Conditions

At a New York City Board of Correction hearing, the New York Civil Liberties Union today submitted testimony in support of comprehensive reforms to the use of punitive segregation and solitary confinement. The Board is considering a proposal for a new housing unit, “enhanced supervision housing,” for incarcerated people who are deemed to pose a serious threat to safety.

“After decades of corruption and abuse, at the expense of the safety and well-being of incarcerated people, health care workers and even corrections officers, there is a real opportunity — and a desperate need — for reform,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.”We hope the proposed reforms will be amended and serve as a step toward more humane and successful treatment of the people incarcerated at Rikers Island.”

The purpose of today’s hearing is for the public to comment on proposed “enhanced supervision housing” (ESH) at Rikers Island for prisoners the Department of Correction has deemed to be the most violent. Recent estimates are that ESH will house up to 250 people, who may be locked in their cells up to 17 hours a day including night time hours.

The NYCLU’s testimony points out that housing units such as ESH can be effective when they include treatment and programs to deal with the causes of problematic behavior. But broad reforms at Rikers Island, where there is a well-documented culture of violence against prisoners including abuses of solitary confinement, are necessary to avoid intensifying harmful and unconstitutional practices and achieve lasting benefits. The NYCLU’s testimony includes recommendations for how to ensure the ESH is used humanely, with meaningful oversight and accountability.

The NYCLU also recommends substantive amendments to the proposed ESH unit, most critically a “sunset” provision treating the program as a pilot project and requiring the Department of Correction to present evidence about the effectiveness of ESH to the Board before it can be reauthorized. Other substantive amendments proposed by the NYCLU include:

• Clarifying that placement into ESH is justified only when someone poses an immediate risk of causing serious physical injury, according to a validated, centralized risk assessment.
• Requiring individualized treatment and a discharge plan to ensure that ESH is a non-punitive setting that people may progress out of rather than be stuck for an indeterminate amount of time.
• Requiring mandatory training for ESH staff, in particular 20 hours of training informed by therapy practices and emphasizing de-escalation techniques, positive reinforcement, and education on trauma and mental health issues.
• Maximizing access to visitation, recreation, mail, and packages for people placed in ESH, because social contact has the best chance of treating and breaking cycles of violence.
• Excluding vulnerable populations from the increased lockdown in ESH under any circumstances, including pregnant women, the physically and intellectually disabled and young people up to age 25.