By Emma G. Fitzsimmons, published December 18, 2023

“The City Council is expected on Wednesday to approve a bill that would make New York the largest American city to ban solitary confinement in city jails in most cases, part of a national campaign to end a practice that critics say amounts to torture.

The Council’s push to ban solitary confinement has been stalled for years over concerns about staffing shortages and violence against jail workers. Mayor Eric Adams has argued since he took office two years ago that isolating detainees is an important tool to help protect jail workers and detainees.

The mayor and the union representing correction officers, which also fiercely opposes the bill, are expected to continue to lobby against the ban right up to the vote. But the bill’s sponsors and supporters say there are enough votes to pass the bill and to override Mr. Adams if he vetoes it.

There is momentum behind the effort: A group of 11 Congress members wrote a letter last week supporting the bill, including Representative Adriano Espaillat, a key ally of the mayor’s, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/nyregion/solitary-confinement-adams-nyc.html