New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams issued the below statement in response to the reported $53 million settlement agreement for people held in solitary confinement in New York City filed in federal court today.
"Today’s settlement agreement shows that no matter what officials argue to the contrary, no matter what words they use to disguise the reality, solitary confinement has been and is still happening in New York City. The city can’t continue to hide this practice under new names – we need to pass my bill to finally ban solitary, the practice that the United Nations has designated as torture, and put in place further due process. Hopefully, the findings in this case prevent future disingenuous disagreements about the semantics of solitary confinement and the false assertions that it does not occur.
"Though New Yorkers who have been subject to solitary without due process won a legal victory today, money does not undo the damage. True justice means ensuring no one else suffers that harm in our city again. This ruling shows the financial cost of this continued abuse, and it is nothing compared to the human cost incurred by continuing to put forth defenses of an indefensible status quo that harms people on both sides of the bars."
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