Opinion: Is it possible to get the effort to close Rikers Island back on track?

The troubled jail’s closure has been cast adrift in a sea of half truths, bad ideas and polarized debate.

• By Greg Berman
• April 13, 2024

Criminal justice reform push comes as state budget negotiations drag on

Advocates join in a call for passing a package of bills that make it easier to challenge wrongful convictions and ease financial burdens on incarcerated persons and their families.

• By Austin C. Jefferson
• April 3, 2024

After PR stunts, damning reports and a new lawsuit, judge sets stage for potential federal takeover of Rikers next year

Federal judge Laura Taylor Swain is losing patience with the city Department of Correction, which has now come under fire from the court-appointed federal monitor, Legal Aid Society, federal prosecutors, city comptroller and Board of Correction.

• By Kelly Grace Price
• August 14, 2023

Opinion: Eric Adams has failed. It’s time for a federal receiver to take over at Rikers

Receivership is the only way to improve conditions and save lives at the troubled jail complex

• By gabriel sayegh
• July 31, 2023

More people have died in New York City jails than previously known

Since 2014, at least 120 people held in city jails have died while in custody or shortly after being released on medical grounds – but some of those deaths have gone unreported.

• By Kelly Grace Price
• July 24, 2023

Here's how parents are really treated on Rikers

Unable to exercise their parental rights, incarcerated fathers and mothers can often feel isolated from their children.

• By Sahalie Donaldson
• July 24, 2023

What needs to change at Rikers? Everything.

We asked more than a dozen criminal justice experts. They urged staying the course on borough-based jails – and many called for a federal takeover of Rikers in the meantime.

• By Shantel Destra
• July 24, 2023

NYC comptroller says old criminal convictions cost city residents nearly $2.4 billion in annual wages

The Legislature only has a few more days left to pass the Clean Slate Act, which would seal old criminal convictions.

• By Shantel Destra
• May 19, 2023

Advocates call for the passage of Daniel’s Law in Albany

The legislation if passed would remove police officers as first responders to mental health crises.

• By Angelique Molina-Mangaroo
• January 18, 2023

Opinion: How a court’s mission aligned with its response to Superstorm Sandy

The Red Hook Community Justice Center took the same holistic approach to overcoming challenges in the criminal justice system when Superstorm Sandy hit ten years ago.

• By Alex Calabrese, NYN Media
• October 30, 2022

Commentary: Mend It, Don’t End It

An analysis on salvaging broken windows.

• By Greg Berman, NYN Media
• October 26, 2022

Commentary: I have spent years fighting a wrongful conviction – a struggle known by many

The exoneration process takes far too long and needs streamlining.

• By LaMon Bland
• October 23, 2022

Advocates and electeds call for an end to solitary confinement as City Council discusses a bill to curtail the controversial practice

So far, no policy decisions have yet made progress in stopping jail officials from isolating incarcerated people.

• By Angelique Molina-Mangaroo
• September 29, 2022

Preventing reimprisonment of formerly incarcerated individuals starts with higher-paying jobs

The city should work with unions and re-entry providers to create work opportunities that facilitate and track long-term success.

• By Samra Haider and Mike Hellstrom, NYN Media
• August 3, 2022

Critics say New York’s new gun control law will fuel mass incarceration

When the old law was ruled unconstitutional, public defenders had hoped that the Legislature could craft a better law.

• By Peter Sterne, NYN Media
• July 21, 2022

Thousands of detained New Yorkers are eligible to vote. Few likely will.

A lack of reporting and adequate voter assistance materials that plagues jail facilities throughout the state leaves doubts that many incarcerated individuals will cast ballots in the upcoming primary elections

• By Madalyn Stewart, NYN Media
• July 13, 2022

How New York’s highest court has veered right

A new four-judge bloc has consistently voted together in the most recent term, impacting criminal defendants, workers and people suing police

• By Sam Mellins
• July 7, 2022

Reform doesn’t stop at the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act

Criminalized domestic abuse survivors call for the passing of legislation that will end mandatory minimums and grant a second look when being sentenced in court.

• By Monica Szlekovics
• June 28, 2022

Debating the impacts of bail reform

State Sen. Michael Gianaris, Assembly Member Latrice Walker and former Queens prosecutor James Quinn discussed law changes at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Friday.

• By Rebecca C. Lewis
• May 15, 2022

Criminal justice journal launches to focus on public safety strategies

• By Ralph R. Ortega
• March 3, 2022