Rikers Island, the second largest jail in the nation, has received significant media attention over the past few years due to notably harsh conditions and numerous abuses. As a result of this negative attention, there has been increasing support to shut down the facility.Tomorrow, April 14 at 10 AM at NYC’s City Hall, there will be a rally to close Rikers Island. This campaign is gaining traction from all corners of the U.S., as well as social media, having spawned the Twitter hashtag #CLOSERikers.
As an important piece of our criminal justice advocacy agenda, NYAPRS vigorously supports this closure. Our community has suffered unspeakably as a result of incarceration at Rikers Island, so we encourage folks to join the fight!
* The campaign site can be found here: https://www.justleadershipusa.org/closerikers/#rally
* JustLeadershipUSA – who have spearheaded the effort – has more information here: http://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/us-policy/criminal-justice-reform/justleadershipusa-close-rikers-campaign
* Other articles on the topic are here:
o http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015
o http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/opinion/imagining-a-rikers-island-with-no-jail.html
o http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/opinion/shut-down-rikers-island.html