FAITH LEADERS GATHER IN RESPONSE TO CRISIS ON RIKERS ISLAND TO DEMAND ACTION FROM MAYOR ADAMS ON THE DAY OF HIS FIRST MEETING WITH PEOPLE DETAINED THERE
On the day of Mayor Eric Adams first visit to Rikers Island to visit people detained there, diverse faith leaders, in collaboration with the Campaign to Close Rikers, gathered for an Interfaith Vigil to mourn the lives lost in the City’s jails, and call on Mayor Adams to:
Acknowledge the humanitarian crisis at Rikers Island, the humanity of people held there, and the city's responsibility for their well-being
Support the DOC Commissioner to use his powers to release people serving City sentences
Work urgently with judges and district attorneys to release people from the city’s deadly jails, and stop sending people into conditions where their lives are at great risk
By substantially reducing the jail population, create the possibility to ensure that people remaining in the jails have access to medical care, programs, out-of-cell group engagement, and other critical services
Move with all possible urgency to close Rikers Island, including advancing the existing closure plans and expediting the closure of the women’s jail
In recent weeks, the deaths of Albert Drye, Anibal Carrasquillo, and Antonio Bradley have occurred in Rikers Island, making nine lives lost this year and 25 other deaths in DOC custody since the start of 2021. Furthermore, reports from the Nunez Federal Monitor and another class action lawsuit continue to show that people in the jails are not being provided with basic services, including medical care, and continue to be exposed to excessive use of force by guards.
“I’m very glad to begin with a piece of good news this morning,” said Rev. Chloe Breyer, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center, “that our mayor is headed out to Rikers Island with the express purpose of meeting with people who are detained there, both those who are pre-trial and those who have received sentences. We implore him to listen to those he meets with. In particular, we ask him to make sure that in our city a jail sentence is not a death sentence.”
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