A federal judge granted a motion on Wednesday to hold New York City and the Department of Corrections in civil contempt for its failure to remedy patterns of excessive use of force and hazardous living conditions at the Rikers Island jail.
“As the record in this case demonstrates, the current rates of use of force, stabbings and slashings, fights, assaults on staff, and in-custody deaths remain extraordinarily high, and there has been no substantial reduction in the risk of harm currently facing those who live and work in the Rikers Island jails,” U.S. District Judge Laura Swain wrote in her 59-page opinion….