Adams Faces Backlash Over Vow To Bring Back Solitary Confinement

NEW YORK CITY — A recent vow by Mayor-elect Eric Adams to reinstate a solitary confinement ban in the city's jail system didn't go over well with advocates.

Adams unveiled the proposal in remarks Thursday as he introduced Louis Molina as his Department of Correction commissioner.

He noted Mayor Bill de Blasio planned to end solitary confinement on Dec. 31.

“They better enjoy that one-day reprieve, because Jan. 1 they are going back into segregation if they committed a violent act," he said during a news conference at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

We need a Department of Corrections Commissioner who will provide humane conditions to inmates; reduce recidivism rates; support our corrections officers; and reimagine DOC from a revolving-door punitive system to a holistic rehabilitation system.

That person is Louis Molina. pic.twitter.com/BLL57iZuhQ
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) December 16, 2021

The vow shocked many advocates, who long fought to ban solitary confinement at Rikers and other city jails on humanitarian grounds.

Attorneys for The Legal Aid Society quickly released a statement condemning Adams' plan.

“This proposal throws away years of progress undoing the physical and mental harms caused by solitary confinement, and it reveals the new Administration’s intent to reinstate regressive and violent policies over modern and more effective practices," they said.