"The alleged ‘deadlocking’ of mentally ill individuals on Rikers Island, if true, is inhumane and indefensible. Rikers has been called the largest mental health facility in the country, but at least at mental health facilities, treatment is provided to people who are suffering. Not only is the city failing to provide mental health support on Rikers, these and other alleged DOC practices are actively harming the mental health of vulnerable incarcerated New Yorkers. This violates not only the Board of Correction minimum standards, but the minimum morals to which we should hold our city.
"These reports are disturbing, alarming, but not surprising from an administration that has actively refused to even attempt to implement the law banning the prolonged isolation of solitary confinement in city jails. Combined with these latest allegations, it appears the administration believes isolation is an acceptable tool, despite the irreversible damage it causes and irrefutable data showing that harm. No matter what name it goes by– “deadlocking,” shower cages, or emergency lock-ins, we are left with the same results.
"If there is an explanation for these reported practices and incidents, a plan to correct them, then the city needs to be clear about its inability to provide adequate care and commit to its moral and legal mandates. They cannot simply hope Rikers stays out of sight, out of mind, and out of the headlines. "
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