NYC NOW - December 20, 2023 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

Visitors to New York City’s sports venues will be allowed to enter with refillable bottles and cups under a new bill. Plus, New York state lawmakers are pushing to make it easier for sexual assault survivors to seek justice through a package of new bills. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill and Jessy Edwards discuss a measure lawmakers are considering that would outlaw solitary confinement at city jails.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. Starting next spring, fans will be able to enter sports venues in New York City with refillable bottles and cups. It's all thanks to a bill the City Council is set to pass this week. The bill is aimed at reducing waste from the hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles generated annually at stadiums and arenas. The measure, put forward by Manhattan Council Member Shauna Brayu, has nearly 40 co-sponsors, guaranteeing its passage. Mayor Eric Adams' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he supports the bill. New York state lawmakers are pushing to make it easier for sexual assault survivors to seek justice through a package of new bills.

WMIC's Samantha Max has the details. One bill would eliminate the deadline for civil law. for many child sex crimes. Other proposals would give sex trafficking survivors and incarcerated people extra time to sue their abusers. Another would require doctors convicted of sexual offenses to notify patients. Assembly member Linda Rosenthal says the measures reflect growing awareness among both lawmakers and members of the public about the time it takes for many survivors of sexual abuse to come forward. Some people are ready to go to court the next day and Some people might take 30 years to deal with it.

Rosenthal said she's also planning to propose a bill that would give victims of sexual abuse more time to file old claims under the Adult Survivors Act. Stay close. There's more after the break. This week, New York City lawmakers will consider outlawing solitary confinement at city jails. Jail officials insist they haven't held anyone in solitary confinement in several years. But lawmakers say a group of men who were being held on civil charges, such as failing to pay child support, were locked in isolated cells for 23 hours a day last month. For more, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WNYC's Jesse Edwards. Jesse, tell us what you know about these men and the conditions in which they were held? Well, a few weeks ago, Michael, I got a tip that a group of men detained on Rikers for not paying child support were being held in a very restrictive unit, one that's normally used for people who have attacked others in jail.

I reached out to the Legal Aid Society Prisoners Rights Project. They confirmed that men charged with civil violations like not paying child support had been calling them throughout November to complain about the conditions they were held in. Legal aid lawyers said the men told them they were locked up alone, 23 hours per day, with only one hour of recreation time. This was in cells on the second floor of a jail called the North Infirmary Command. I confirmed the information with jails officials earlier this week. They said nine men charged with civil commitments were moved to the unit in early November. They were transferred back to general population jails on December 1st. The city says it hasn't held anyone in solitary for civil.

several years, but the conditions these men described meets that definition. Is it unusual for people to be locked up for 23 hours per day at Rikers? It is unusual that these men who were charged with, say, not paying child support were put in such isolated and restricted conditions for weeks. The Department of Correction didn't say exactly why the group was moved there out of the normal jails, but a spokesman said the unit they were moved to is often used to house people who need protection from. other detainees. It's what they call protective custody. We know from documents and reports from staff, this unit is also used to isolate or punish people who have attacked others in jail,

and that's what they call punitive segregation. You said this unit is very restrictive. What can you tell us about this? Well, in 2021, the city said that the units were designed as a humane alternative to solitary confinement. I can describe it to you, Michael, based on photos I've seen. So the cells are in a hallway lined with individual cages. Inside each cage is a cell at the back which holds a bed, a toilet and a sink. At the front of each cell is a small caged area, which the DOC says contains a phone and a television. When the bars between the cell and the cage are opened, the detainee can go into the front cage. The Department of Corrections says the men detained there got an hour of recreation outside the cell each day and that they could communicate with

each other from their separate cells. But people I've spoken to who worked in the unit say it's cramped, dark, and that the men would have had to yell to hear each other from cell to sell. And in fact, this unit was at the center of a $53 million class action settlement with the city in April. Former detainees claimed they were illegally held there in isolated cells, 23 hours a day, and deprived of recreation and natural light. Is there a difference between what you're describing and solitary? confinement? Well, the DOC says it doesn't use solitary confinement and that it hasn't used that practice in several years. What it does use is, as I mentioned, punitive segregation, restrictive

housing and protective custody. But advocates and lawyers I spoke to say it's just solitary, but by another name. They say, no matter what DOC calls it, being locked up 23 hours a day in a cell by yourself amounts to solitary confinement. The United Nations defined solitary as being held without meaningful human contact for more than 22 hours per day. It says being in these conditions for more than 15 days in a row is a type of torture. Some of us may be surprised to hear that you can be jail for not paying child support. What's that about? I was surprised too, Michael. Experts told me under state law, people who fail to pay child support in New York can be held. in jail for up to six months, but it only happens in extreme cases. A judge would need to hold

a parent in contempt of court after finding that they, quote, willfully didn't pay child support, even though they had the money. I understand this news comes on the same day the city council, as we said, plans to vote on a piece of legislation to ban solitary confinement. What would the law change if it passes today? State lawmakers in 2021 passed a bill, that requires seven hours of daily out-of-cell time and limits the use of solitary confinement to 15 consecutive days. Six years earlier, the practice was banned for all detainees 21 and younger in New York City. That was amid the death of Khalif Browder. Browder died by suicide at age 22 after being held more than 800 days in solitary on Rikers. Today, city lawmakers are voting on

whether to go one step further and ban solitary confinement in city jails in most cases. If passed, detainees held it in restrictive housing, like the unit we're talking about now, would have to have at least 14 hours outside of their cells each day. Jessie, has the mayor's office said anything about all of this? I did reach out to City Hall, Michael. A spokesperson echoed the DOC in saying that New York City has not used the practice of solitary for years. The spokesperson said Mayor Eric Adams opposes the legislation. He believes it makes jails less safe,

and he's also encouraging council members to vote against it. That's WNYC's Jesse Edwards talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.