Articles by Brian Sonenstein

August 30, 2015 9

Prison Protest Is Now Part Of Shadowproof

If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t been posting any updates here in the last month or so, it is because this column has formally moved to Shadowproof.com, where I have been writing daily about prisons, jails and incarceration. Read more about Shadowproof here: Introducing Shadowproof More about Shadowproof In the coming weeks/months, I hope to migrate this site completely and redirect the domain to its new home. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you will join me over at [Continue reading]

NYC City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito talks with Mayor De Blasio

June 26, 2015 8

New York City Council Proposes Taxpayers Bail Some Inmates Out of Jails

Correction: An earlier version of this post placed the responsibility for changing bail laws at the feet of the New York City Council. In fact, bail laws are set by the State of New York, and would have to be changed by state legislators. I sincerely regret this error and have amended the post accordingly. At the same time, I would like to reaffirm my central point that a bail fund (while well intentioned) is not bail reform. It may provide some relief to a subset of prisoners, but the [Continue reading]

New York City Department of Correction's Tank

June 25, 2015 1

New York City Enters Settlement With Feds Over Rikers Island Brutality

New York City and the Department of Justice settled a 2012 class action lawsuit this week brought by the Legal Aid Society (Nunez v City of New York), alleging rampant inmate abuse on Rikers Island. The Nunez lawsuit is just one of many to have detailed the horrific conditions facing inmates in NYC jails and underscores the pervasive brutality and impunity with which the city’s corrections officers have traditionally operated. In December of last year, Mayor Bill De Blasio’s [Continue reading]

May 1, 2015 4

Excited Delirium, the Use of Force and the Death of Natasha McKenna

Update: Taser’s role in the rise of excited delirium diagnoses is an important part of this story. H/T to @SusieMadrak Last week, police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said a medical examiner determined that a 37 year old mentally ill black woman named Natasha McKenna died of ‘excited delirium’ in February after being tased and restrained by six armored sheriff’s deputies. I had never heard of excited delirium before, so I dug into it a little bit. The American Psychiatric [Continue reading]

April 30, 2015 1

Against Reform: Beyond Rikers Island

There are a couple of things I want to say about the 10 reform bills proposed in the NYC Council this week targeting the Department of Corrections. First, as I mentioned in my rundown, even if these bills pass, they will be meaningless without rigorous enforcement and oversight by the council. Much of the problem here is not that the city lacks regulations over its jails — it’s that the Department of Corrections seems to follow its own rules and break theirs with impunity. For [Continue reading]

April 30, 2015 29

New York City Council Introduces 10 Bills to Reform Rikers Island

Update: A few thoughts on this reform package. This week, New York City Council members introduced 10 bills outlining various reforms to the Department of Correction and city jails. Most of the proposals are focused on capturing data and increasing transparency, while others involve measures like crisis intervention programming and the establishment of an inmate “Bill of Rights.” The language and formatting used in these bills can be difficult to read, but this stuff is important, [Continue reading]

April 30, 2015 14

Medical Examiner Says Mentally Ill Inmate Natasha McKenna Died of Excited Delirium

UPDATE: More on ‘excited delirium’ and its diagnosis in in-custody deaths involving the use of force. According to the Fairfax County Police, a medical examiner has ruled that 37-year old inmate Natasha McKenna died of ‘excited delirium’ while in custody last February. Natasha suffered from schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, and was arrested on January 26th after she called 911 to report she had been assaulted. After taking her to the hospital, police realized they had [Continue reading]

Screentshot from No Sanctuary: Big Business and Family Detention (GrassrootsLeadership.org)

April 29, 2015 4

Protest May 2nd to #EndFamilyDetention in Dilley, Texas

If you can, please attend this protest on May 2nd to oppose the federal government’s detention of refugee and immigrant families at a CCA-operated private prison in Dilley, Texas. More on this from Grassroots Leadership. Hundreds Prepare for May 2 Protest to #EndFamilyDetention in Dilley, Texas Advocates and attorneys joined Austin City Council Member Greg Casar to call for an end to family detention and share details of the massive, national protest (AUSTIN, Texas) — Local immigrant [Continue reading]

April 23, 2015 6

Corizon Health Staff on Rikers Island File Federal Labor Complaint Over Dangerous Work Environment

According to the NY Daily News, a group of medical staffers from New York City jail medical contractor Corizon Health Services filed a federal labor complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on April 11th for Corizon’s failure to protect them from inmate assaults. From the Daily News: The staffers charge that the nation’s largest jail health care provider repeatedly failed to protect them from dangerous inmates who were never properly restrained or labeled [Continue reading]

Screenshot from "Worse Than Animals: Prison System Voices Decry Solitary Confinement of Mentally Ill (1/2)" by Democracy NOW! on YouTube.

April 5, 2015 6

Report: Rikers Island Health Staff Shouldn’t Participate in Solitary Confinement Placement Process

The Associated Press got a sneak preview of a new study that found the medical ethics of healthcare workers on Rikers Island are seriously compromised — especially when they are involved in placing inmates in solitary confinement: The two-year study at New York’s sprawling Rikers Island jail complex concluded with a bold recommendation to remove health workers entirely from the most contentious issue they face — whether to put an inmate in solitary. That’s because many [Continue reading]

1 2 3 … 9 »