'Let's End Solitary Confinement,' De Blasio Says

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Solitary confinement's days in New York City's jails will come to an end, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged.

De Blasio on Monday announced the city will immediately halt practice known as "punitive segregation" for inmates with underlying medical conditions like seizures and heart disease.

He also said a city-appointed task force will present a plan in the fall for its total abolition.

"Let's end solitary confinement altogether," he said.

De Blasio described it as part of the "next wave of reforms" to the city's criminal justice system following protests over the killing of George Floyd. He said the city's jail population reached its lowest level since the 1940s.

But incidents such as the death of Layleen Polanco — a 27-year-old transgender woman who died of a seizure nine days into solitary confinement in Rikers' women's jail — showed the need for changes, de Blasio said.

"Layleen Polanco should not have been in Rikers to begin with," de Blasio said. "Layleen Polanco should not have been in solitary confinement. And Lord knows she deserves justice. Her family deserves justice. The transgender community deserves justice. We have to right the wrong. We can't bring her back, but we can make change so that no one else goes through such a tragedy."

Seventeen corrections officers have been disciplined since Polanco's death, four without pay, de Blasio said. He said it's only a start to the disciplinary process.

De Blasio said a four-member task force consisting of Board of Correction Vice Chair Stanley Richards, Corrections Commissioner Cynthia Brann, Just Leadership USA President DeAnna Hoskins and a corrections officers union representative will look toward the ultimate end of solitary confinement.

"This group will have a simple mission, a simple mandate – find a way to end solitary confinement and tell us all the things it's going to take, because it will take other measures and new approaches and innovations to keep everyone safe," he said.