By Nia Prater, published December 22, 2023

In 2015, after spending two years in isolation on Rikers Island without a trial, Kalief Browder took his own life. His family blamed Browder’s stay in solitary confinement, which they said left him a broken man. His death at age 22 renewed calls to end solitary confinement and, eight years later on Wednesday, the City Council voted to ban the practice in city jails. The move has received praise from advocates of criminal justice reform who say solitary confinement is a form of torture, but Mayor Eric Adams and corrections officers say it’s a necessary form of punishment to keep guards safe. Adams, a former NYPD officer himself, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of vetoing the bill when it reaches his desk.

Carlina Rivera, the chair of the council’s Criminal Justice committee, is one of the 39 members who voted to ban the practice, and she spoke a day later about what she thinks is missing from the conversation about solitary confinement and whether the council would override a potential mayoral veto.

Read more: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/12/the-end-of-solitary-confinement-and-what-comes-next.html