Gothamist
“How could a place be so evil?” asked Carmichael, who is now an activist [with UJC's Freedom Agenda] pushing for better conditions at Rikers. “Right here in the biggest city in the country and arguably one of the most progressive, loving cities. How could this be happening?”NY Post
The advocacy group Freedom Agenda said Nieves bled to death while corrections officers and a captain watched. 'While Mayor [Eric] Adams was publicly questioning whether we should or could send less people to jail, a man with serious mental illness was clinging to life after guards ignored his suicide attempt,' the group’s co-director, Darren Mack, said.AM NY
Monday’s death prompted stern reaction from the Freedom Agenda, a criminal justice advocacy group calling for Rikers Island’s closure. Tamara Carter, whose son Brandon Rodriguez died on Rikers Island last year, excoriated the Corrections Department for the latest fatality.NY Post
“‘To find out not even after a week of the first anniversary of my son’s death that someone else has died in a shower cell is heartbreaking. Have they learned nothing?’ Carter, a member of the advocacy group Freedom Agenda, said in a statement.”Daily Eagle
Darren Mack, the co-director of [UJC's] Freedom Agenda, said closing and transferring facilities would be a win for everyone involved, pointing to the potential for correction officers to not be stretched as thinly and, in turn, enable detainees to have better access to medical services and programming....“We hope this mayor will follow the law that's been established by the Renewable Rikers Act,” he added. “At this moment this administration is operating outside of the law… and I think this administration needs to take the next step, which is transfers.”© 2023 Urban Justice Center | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
