New York City Council and Mayor Adams Reach Impasse Over Solitary Confinement

New York’s City Council is girding for a legal showdown against Mayor Eric Adams if a ban on solitary confinement that the council pushed through over the mayor’s veto fails to go into effect as scheduled on July 28.

Bill 549-A, which enjoyed the sponsorship of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and support from members of the council’s majority, bans the use—in most circumstances—of solitary confinement on Rikers Island and in other city jails, mandating that inmates have at least 14 hours per day among the facilities’ general populations. It also seeks to establish due process protections for inmates before prison officials can place them in isolation for any period of time.

Mr. Williams and other progressives hail the legislation as a humane response to a practice they say has extremely deleterious effects on inmates’ mental health and contributes to isolation and suicidal thoughts.

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