Rikers Island: Reform it – or Shut it Down?

Wednesday, November 18, 2015  2-5pm

The Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, First FLoor

Sponsors

JustLeadershipUSA

Humanities Action Lab at The New School

The Rikers Island jail complex has become an infamous symbol of criminal justice dysfunction. Last year, The New York Times uncovered 129 serious injuries to inmates. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York documented widespread abuse and neglect of teenagers in the jail’s adolescent unit. And Mayor de Blasio described an environment so toxic that inmates are released “more broken than when they came in.”

The City administration has promised reforms. But a growing number of community groups, advocates and elected representatives say that piecemeal changes are not enough. Their cry is getting louder: Shut Rikers Down.

Join us for a discussion about what real jail reform can and should look like: How can the city move toward a better, smaller jail? What are the right alternatives for adolescents and mentally ill inmates? What community-based supports must be in place to reduce incarceration and recidivism? What are the barriers to real reform and how can they be overcome?

Liz Glazer, director, Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice
Marty Horn, executive director, NYS Sentencing Commission
Glenn Martin, founder and president, JustLeadershipUSA
Neil Barsky, founder and chairman, the Marshall Project
Carmen Perez, executive director, The Gathering for Justice and co-founder, Justice League NYC

RSVP HERE