I'll say it again, why The Times referred to Mr. Ponte as a reformer still baffles me. Caligula of Corrections is what he was called at Walpole. Brother is what he was called by his disbarred coke-dealing now-dead sibling who was intimately involved in the New Bedford Highway Murders of 1988. Weird is what he was called at the Donald Wyatt Federal Detention Center in RI. And the perfect commissioner for Riker's is what he's called by the Mayor. Boggles the mind.
1
As a native New Yorker we have always heard stories of how horrible Rikers Island is. We have always heard it is run by the various factions of vilolent
NY street gangs. The guards are simply trying to make it through another day.
They are just trying to get one day closer to their ridiculous pensions
or going out on full paid disability.
The simplest solution would be to fire (without any ridiculous pensions!) all of the top people. Of course, this could be done over the course of one year.
Then look to staff the the top positions with former high ranking Military personnel with impeccable records. These men know how to run a large organization in an organized and ethical way. All corporate cultures start at the top. If the leadership is honest and ethical then those under them will act in a similar fashion. The reverse is true as well.
Eventually. The prison site could be sold for its real estate value and the proceeds used to build a new prison 20-30 miles upstate.
NY street gangs. The guards are simply trying to make it through another day.
They are just trying to get one day closer to their ridiculous pensions
or going out on full paid disability.
The simplest solution would be to fire (without any ridiculous pensions!) all of the top people. Of course, this could be done over the course of one year.
Then look to staff the the top positions with former high ranking Military personnel with impeccable records. These men know how to run a large organization in an organized and ethical way. All corporate cultures start at the top. If the leadership is honest and ethical then those under them will act in a similar fashion. The reverse is true as well.
Eventually. The prison site could be sold for its real estate value and the proceeds used to build a new prison 20-30 miles upstate.
1
Sorry, just . . . no.
The long list of documented absues of inmates by prison staff at Riker's -- a list that includes things like guards ordering gangs to beat up particular prisoners and sexual abuse of inmates -- goes far, far beyond "simply trying to make it through another day."
The long list of documented absues of inmates by prison staff at Riker's -- a list that includes things like guards ordering gangs to beat up particular prisoners and sexual abuse of inmates -- goes far, far beyond "simply trying to make it through another day."
1
These people have risen to high and important positions and should not be held accountable for their conduct by mere citizen taxpayers. Lower-ranking people should be held accountable for their unethical and illegal actions, but not the elite.
The "prison industry" in this country is in need of major overhaul. Has anyone read "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander? While and after reading this exceptionally sobering look at our current culture, it becomes all too clear that we have had and continue to have a caste system that amasses money and power at the expense of an underclass--beyond crime and punishment.
1
Is there any reason why NYC should run the largest jail in country? The City certainly doesn't have the management skills and integrity to run such a huge prison camp. Like much of the City Rikers is too large to run with the quality of people available. Keeping people in cages is not the same as managing potholes.
2
It's long past time our city's police and corrections departments were roped off as crime scenes. The corruption runs deep enough to tarnish even the most ethical and conscientious.
4
My neighbor worked there two weeks and quit. A hellhole..
3
That's why it makes a good prop for shows like New York undercover or please story or what's that other famous one… law and order
The photograph accompanying this story says it all. Just look at the size and the location of Rikers Island. A waste of human life, waterfront land and money, with little to show for all those $ billions spent.
7
And if fewer people were breaking the law, such a large jail complex would not be needed. Let's work down to root causes. It is the lawbreakers who cause the waste, not those who attempt to correct them.
5
There are a lot of people making a lot of money on Rikers just the way it is. It is both a jail and a crime scene. Entire careers are made by turning one's back on corruption.
3
Rikers has been attacked on matters that have sometimes been substantiated and sometimes bot. There is clearly bad blood between those who run the jail and those who investigate their conduct. We have learned of terrible unwarranted violence and we have been told of unsubstantiated harms. That jail officials would not trust those conducting an internal investigation is hardly a surprise. What is needed here is a fair view of the ongoing conflict that is not a simple tale of good guys and bad guys.
4
Do you see any irony in this behavior occurring within the Department of Correction? It's like staffing a hospital with the terminally ill.
4
Remind me again in what century prison reform first became a liberal cause.
Remind me again of when police corruption scandals roiled NY.
As an ex-Noo Yawkuh--and heartily grateful to be so--it often bemuses me how a city renowned for its liberal--nay, progressive ethos has in fact always been an infinite number of shipping containers* full of deplorables. Despite Her*s representation for a time--a big cheer for carpetbagging--and Schumer*s continued representation, et al--for those without money or connections, daily life is often a grinding misery.
And that*s without the egregious brutality, routine perjury and general thuggery of New York*s Finest.
Unions were once a noble concept. They are now, as all powerful institutions become, a cesspool of graft, influence-selling and obstruction to even the slightest whisper of reform.
I mean, if you didn't know better, you*d think Rikers was in Ohio, or something. Nah--it*s as Noo Yawk as an apple.
Remind me again of when police corruption scandals roiled NY.
As an ex-Noo Yawkuh--and heartily grateful to be so--it often bemuses me how a city renowned for its liberal--nay, progressive ethos has in fact always been an infinite number of shipping containers* full of deplorables. Despite Her*s representation for a time--a big cheer for carpetbagging--and Schumer*s continued representation, et al--for those without money or connections, daily life is often a grinding misery.
And that*s without the egregious brutality, routine perjury and general thuggery of New York*s Finest.
Unions were once a noble concept. They are now, as all powerful institutions become, a cesspool of graft, influence-selling and obstruction to even the slightest whisper of reform.
I mean, if you didn't know better, you*d think Rikers was in Ohio, or something. Nah--it*s as Noo Yawk as an apple.
6
This sounds exactly like something that would happen at Rikers. It should be closed and ALL employees fired, especially supervisory positions. Permanently. The land and the property - minus the prison facilities - must be very valuable, or useful for other purposes.
13
The mayor is ok with "somebody said it was ok for me to take a city car on vacation. How many stupids stack up here?
23
I don't see the harm that Mr. Ponte did by driving a government car to his vacation home.
Why shouldn't he use it.
He probably used it on weekends when it would not have been needed by other people.
To use this as a reason he should have been fired is ridiculous and department critics should not be used quoted as a source to justify that action as they are very bias .
Why shouldn't he use it.
He probably used it on weekends when it would not have been needed by other people.
To use this as a reason he should have been fired is ridiculous and department critics should not be used quoted as a source to justify that action as they are very bias .
1
It's very nice of you to speak up, Mrs. Ponte.
5
Unfortunately I am not surprised at the latest allegation to come from Rikers Island. To many Rikers is synonymous with corruption, brutality, and a culture of violence that mere words cannot describe.
The president of the correctional officers union at Rikers for over 20 years is under federal indictment for stealing over $20 million dollars from the officers pension funds. Rikers is also under federal oversight because of the brutality, conditions and violence detainees are subjected to. For years any attempt by the Board of Corrections or the Mayors office to bring about change and reform on Rikers has been thwarted by the union.
To suggest the creation of smaller community-based jails and to close Rikers will only create multiple versions of Rikers but on a smaller scale.
A through house cleaning from top to bottom is needed, better recruiting, hiring and training of officers as well as ongoing mental health services, and replacement of the members of the Board of Corrections are needed. Speedy trial, bail reform, sentencing reform must occur. Basically wipe the slate clean, start fresh and allow Rikers to become a national model for correctional facilities across the country.
I was detained on Rikers for over 10 months, I am featured in the Bill Moyers documentary Rikers: An American
Jail. I am not some suburban liberal housewife I am in the trenches daily and know of what I speak.
The president of the correctional officers union at Rikers for over 20 years is under federal indictment for stealing over $20 million dollars from the officers pension funds. Rikers is also under federal oversight because of the brutality, conditions and violence detainees are subjected to. For years any attempt by the Board of Corrections or the Mayors office to bring about change and reform on Rikers has been thwarted by the union.
To suggest the creation of smaller community-based jails and to close Rikers will only create multiple versions of Rikers but on a smaller scale.
A through house cleaning from top to bottom is needed, better recruiting, hiring and training of officers as well as ongoing mental health services, and replacement of the members of the Board of Corrections are needed. Speedy trial, bail reform, sentencing reform must occur. Basically wipe the slate clean, start fresh and allow Rikers to become a national model for correctional facilities across the country.
I was detained on Rikers for over 10 months, I am featured in the Bill Moyers documentary Rikers: An American
Jail. I am not some suburban liberal housewife I am in the trenches daily and know of what I speak.
62
A lot of what goes on at Rikers is debtors' prison. If we fixed this - eliminating cash bail for most nonviolent offenses - the size of the problem would be a lot smaller. Yes, there would be some skipping out on court appearances. But for people who can afford bail that risk exists and we live with it.
32
I don't see your logic.
People who have put up money that they will not get back will be less likely to skip a court appearance.
So the fact they made bail is the reason we accept the risk they will skip their day in court which would not apply to someone who did not make bail.
People who have put up money that they will not get back will be less likely to skip a court appearance.
So the fact they made bail is the reason we accept the risk they will skip their day in court which would not apply to someone who did not make bail.
3
Stone...you really need to think this through... People do not show up in court just because they put up bail...they do so in order to clear up their case regardless of outcome. The cost of running a prison system, populated in large part for detainees who cannot post bail, far exceeds the amount the system gets for keeping bail. duhhh
3
I don't agree.
People do not show up if they have nothing to lose and will lose the case.
Putting up bail gives a person a reason to show up.
It won't pay for the cost of running a prison but can be used to get this individual back into custody if they chose to skip town.
People do not show up if they have nothing to lose and will lose the case.
Putting up bail gives a person a reason to show up.
It won't pay for the cost of running a prison but can be used to get this individual back into custody if they chose to skip town.
The statement "These people in Rikers are prisoners because of their own wrongdoing" is a false and misleading statement. The vast majority of detainees at Rikers are innocent - by law. Very few have been convicted. It isn't prison (which is for people convicted of felonies) it is a jail where people who cannot make bail or who are denied bail await their court dates and resolution of charges.
59
So you're implying that prosecutors bandy about charges for no good reason, that they have nothing better to do, that they do this because there is a shortage of actual criminals to charge and prosecute, right?
Yes, there are exceptions but I assure you that almost all of the people who make bail and avoid places like Rikers are guilty of the charges and eventually wind up there or pay hefty fines and restitution after trial or because of a plea bargain.
Yes, there are exceptions but I assure you that almost all of the people who make bail and avoid places like Rikers are guilty of the charges and eventually wind up there or pay hefty fines and restitution after trial or because of a plea bargain.
5
Yes, prosecutors bandy around criminal charges because that is their job. And yes, I hate to shatter the naive little bubble you are trying to exist in, many prosecutors bring charges against people who did not commit the crime. it happens every single day.
13
Mike, let's hope that if you ever end up on a jury, somebody will be able to explain "innocent until proven guilty" in a way that gets through to you... let's hope...
3
Business as usual.
4
The problem with Rikers... Location, Location, Location.
Everything about that place proves how ineffective the criminal justice system in NYC is, but it's by design.
Each day hundreds of low level offenders are sent to the gated community run by maniacs, and then shuttled back and forth by six figure prison bus drivers from manhattan and back. Why are the judges not assigned to Rikers, instead of the millions spent of bussing... Unions, and the fact that no judge or attorney in their right mind wants to spend a day on Riker's island (except the perps in uniform who work there).
It's as if nobody in the NYC criminal justice system is aware that video conferencing exists for arraignments and procedural hearings in many jurisdictions that cannot afford government grift.
Everything about that place proves how ineffective the criminal justice system in NYC is, but it's by design.
Each day hundreds of low level offenders are sent to the gated community run by maniacs, and then shuttled back and forth by six figure prison bus drivers from manhattan and back. Why are the judges not assigned to Rikers, instead of the millions spent of bussing... Unions, and the fact that no judge or attorney in their right mind wants to spend a day on Riker's island (except the perps in uniform who work there).
It's as if nobody in the NYC criminal justice system is aware that video conferencing exists for arraignments and procedural hearings in many jurisdictions that cannot afford government grift.
31
mediapizza, this was one of the most uninformed and stupid remarks I've read. And then you put down the officers and lump them all into one category? Shows your ignorance. It also shows me that you think your better than others a very bad career ending attitude. If you have a career that is?
1
Rikers location is perfect, off-shore, one road in and out. Escape very unlikely.
What are you going to do, scatter prisons around the City polluting good neighborhoods instead of pooling all of this degeneracy in one hard-to-access place?
Run it right. Start by firing the corrupt, incompetent people who presently run it.
What are you going to do, scatter prisons around the City polluting good neighborhoods instead of pooling all of this degeneracy in one hard-to-access place?
Run it right. Start by firing the corrupt, incompetent people who presently run it.
9
The officers are supervisors. Supervisors are responsible for what happens.....perhaps they could get some "boots on the ground" from the military and learn how to supervise........
2
Shut down Rikers, New York City's Guantanamo!
16
What do you do with the inmates when you close Riker's.
I don't want them near me.
I bet you don't want them either.
I don't want them near me.
I bet you don't want them either.
7
What a rat's nest of corruption and incompetence.
It's mind boggling that administrators at Rikers are still in place. They need to be summarily fired for cause. Not transferred, not disciplined, even severely (as if that would ever happen), but cast into the streets to fend for themselves.
I'm union guy, but even unions need close supervision by a body with a will and weapons to wield. Like business, these people will seize and defend almost to the death whatever power and privilege they perceive themselves to have.
Rikers is too big to succeed. At the very least, it should be broken up into fully independent operating units, and distributed throughout the city. This mega-facility has been a tragic failure for decades.
In terms of ridiculous responses, this is a near-winner: "If Mr. Kuczinski believed he had uncovered a corrupt investigator, the person said, he should have notified the agency or some other city or law enforcement official."
It's like asking inmates to lodge complaints with the guards who abuse them with terrible regularity.
For those "Well, they broke the law" folks out there, get over it. Inmates are meant to be housed decently and rehabilitated where possible. Everything about Rikers is designed to do the opposite. If they can't do the job correctly, its time for them all to move along.
It's mind boggling that administrators at Rikers are still in place. They need to be summarily fired for cause. Not transferred, not disciplined, even severely (as if that would ever happen), but cast into the streets to fend for themselves.
I'm union guy, but even unions need close supervision by a body with a will and weapons to wield. Like business, these people will seize and defend almost to the death whatever power and privilege they perceive themselves to have.
Rikers is too big to succeed. At the very least, it should be broken up into fully independent operating units, and distributed throughout the city. This mega-facility has been a tragic failure for decades.
In terms of ridiculous responses, this is a near-winner: "If Mr. Kuczinski believed he had uncovered a corrupt investigator, the person said, he should have notified the agency or some other city or law enforcement official."
It's like asking inmates to lodge complaints with the guards who abuse them with terrible regularity.
For those "Well, they broke the law" folks out there, get over it. Inmates are meant to be housed decently and rehabilitated where possible. Everything about Rikers is designed to do the opposite. If they can't do the job correctly, its time for them all to move along.
34
I totally agree. Fire most of them and replace them in the interim with the National Guard. Then hire and train adequate replacements.
Getting drugs, tattoos, weapons, sex in prison is totally unacceptable.
Getting drugs, tattoos, weapons, sex in prison is totally unacceptable.
12
Hi John, I see your from Cleveland, just to let you know not everything you hear in the news about Rikers is gospel. And it's a sin to lump all of the Correction Officers into one category, the vast majority are hard working people that do the job that I would not want to do, God bless the men & women in uniform that do it.
4
Jose
Hi there!
I do know a bit about Rikers, having lived in Manhattan for several years too long ago.
I would never deny there are excellent and even selfless corrections officers at Rikers, doing the best they can for themselves and their charges.
But they're working in a system designed to fail, and they're supervised by executives with a mighty talent for graft and abuse. And they're supported (when they are) by a union equally grafty and abusive in its own ways.
To top it off, the whole mess is part and parcel of a political environment that, no matter who is power, can never seem to get out of its own way and get its house genuinely clean.
It really is past time to shut the whole thing down and move ahead.
I deeply appreciate (although I heartily disagree) with sentiments like those of stone, above. I don't suppose many people would respond positively to a question like "So, hey there. You want a pile of prisoners dumped on your neighborhood? And when can we start?"
But there are other ways to do it. And maybe the prospect of such neighborhood horror would move some recalcitrant citizens to fully fund social services for a change.
Unlike the bilious sca above, I envy you your coming springtime in New York. I kind of resent his serial dump on two places I truly love, NYC and (Northeast) Ohio. Thanks for the shout out. Take care. Enjoy.
Hi there!
I do know a bit about Rikers, having lived in Manhattan for several years too long ago.
I would never deny there are excellent and even selfless corrections officers at Rikers, doing the best they can for themselves and their charges.
But they're working in a system designed to fail, and they're supervised by executives with a mighty talent for graft and abuse. And they're supported (when they are) by a union equally grafty and abusive in its own ways.
To top it off, the whole mess is part and parcel of a political environment that, no matter who is power, can never seem to get out of its own way and get its house genuinely clean.
It really is past time to shut the whole thing down and move ahead.
I deeply appreciate (although I heartily disagree) with sentiments like those of stone, above. I don't suppose many people would respond positively to a question like "So, hey there. You want a pile of prisoners dumped on your neighborhood? And when can we start?"
But there are other ways to do it. And maybe the prospect of such neighborhood horror would move some recalcitrant citizens to fully fund social services for a change.
Unlike the bilious sca above, I envy you your coming springtime in New York. I kind of resent his serial dump on two places I truly love, NYC and (Northeast) Ohio. Thanks for the shout out. Take care. Enjoy.
1
The NYC Dept. of Correction, or NYCD, does not employ any guards. The NYCD is the second largest law enforcement agency in the state. Its members of service faithfully perform their duties, mostly unseen, and often under exceedingly dangerous conditions. They provide a vital public safety function and do not deserve the slight, whether intentional or not, of being referred to as any variation of the term, "guards." The correct job title is correction officer, or just officer if one finds the full title cumbersome.
2
Bert Craig Just exactly what are the guards at Rikers correcting? They are guards, not correctional officers.
2
America should generally rethink its prisons and jails but leaving that aside, it seems like Rikers is particularly terrible and that the problem starts at the top. Fire all of these clowns and start from scratch or close the place. This kind of incompetence and malfeasance is only tolerated in government. Companies would have replaced these losers long ago.
8
The question for the mayor: does Rikers, and the entire city jail system, deserve good management? If the answer is yes, a major housecleaning is in order. Ponte has shown terrible judgement, and his own appointments have been terrible. Rikers is run like a small 3rd world country. Who cares?
14
Yes but the mayors office also needs a house cleaning. starting at deblasio.
2
Love the insinuation. "Are they hiding something? I don't know!" Rehearsing for the presidency, maybe?
It rather looks, though, like Rikers and its embarrassment of an administration are the ones with something to hide. And like a campaign of intimidation against informants is part of the plan to keep it hidden. Would you speak to investigators about corrections officers and their abuses knowing the guards tasked with keeping you "safe" and empowered to ruin your life in the name of "safety" would receive a report on your confidential conversation?
rikers needs to be shut down yesterday, and most of its staff needs to be fired ten years ago.
It rather looks, though, like Rikers and its embarrassment of an administration are the ones with something to hide. And like a campaign of intimidation against informants is part of the plan to keep it hidden. Would you speak to investigators about corrections officers and their abuses knowing the guards tasked with keeping you "safe" and empowered to ruin your life in the name of "safety" would receive a report on your confidential conversation?
rikers needs to be shut down yesterday, and most of its staff needs to be fired ten years ago.
29
Simply uninformed! Shut it down? Are unicorns going to swoop down and magically make everyone nice, no of course not. Rethink the shutting down idea where do they go? What area in the city? Your neighborhood? They cant come to mine in New Jersey! Perhaps Gov Cuomo will take them since he's taking over a significant amount of city services already. Shut it down with no solution if you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, well before Cuomo claims it and puts tolls on it that is.
3
As they say" the fish stinks from the head". Under Mr. Ponte's leadership unprecedented levels of corruption have been endemic to the system of corrections. Sounds like political appointments take precedence over responsible governing. This reminds me of a scandal in New Jersey famously known as Bridgegate.
9
What do you expect when the person who runs Rikers, Joseph Ponte, spends one quarter of his time at his cushy digs in Maine? Fire him!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/nyregion/new-york-correction-commissi...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/nyregion/new-york-correction-commissi...
24
Every time I land in LaGuardia I see this blight and think to these stories of pathetic individuals in leadership positions
These are weak people - lack of humanity and lack of vision to look beyond their simplistic and Machiavellian view of their situation
Struggling for their leadership jobs, insular, I could go on
Fire all leadership
Help guards deal with a system that strips them of logic, freedom and humanity
Create a system to minimize terms, reform, and also help the mentally ill vs jail them because as a city we are too stupid and ignorant to see what we are doing to them
It's pathetic with the huge amount of taxes we spend to live in this city that we still have Rikers operating with such incompetence
I would like to carve my tax dollars out to either fix it or defund this corrupt organization which benefits no one
I'd rather petty criminals and mentally ill not go to our jails than be converted into further traumatized shells of humans that will be released and hurt my family
These are weak people - lack of humanity and lack of vision to look beyond their simplistic and Machiavellian view of their situation
Struggling for their leadership jobs, insular, I could go on
Fire all leadership
Help guards deal with a system that strips them of logic, freedom and humanity
Create a system to minimize terms, reform, and also help the mentally ill vs jail them because as a city we are too stupid and ignorant to see what we are doing to them
It's pathetic with the huge amount of taxes we spend to live in this city that we still have Rikers operating with such incompetence
I would like to carve my tax dollars out to either fix it or defund this corrupt organization which benefits no one
I'd rather petty criminals and mentally ill not go to our jails than be converted into further traumatized shells of humans that will be released and hurt my family
16
I agree that there are plenty of weak people with a lack of humanity and a Machiavelian view of their situation. Where I disagree is which side of the bars they are on.
People who believe that they have a right to the property of others, people who believe that the fact that they are stronger or better armed than others gives them special privileges, people who believe that their needs are more important than the rights of their victims; these are the morally weak, inhumane people whose existence requires a facility like Rikers.
Many of the apologists for the criminals talk about looking beyond the immediate actions and seeing the background that makes them behave the way they do; I say apply the same to those assigned to guard them. Some COs, I am sure, have become hard and uncaring after years of abuse at the hands of the prisoners. I do not excuse them, but I can understand how it could happen.
People who believe that they have a right to the property of others, people who believe that the fact that they are stronger or better armed than others gives them special privileges, people who believe that their needs are more important than the rights of their victims; these are the morally weak, inhumane people whose existence requires a facility like Rikers.
Many of the apologists for the criminals talk about looking beyond the immediate actions and seeing the background that makes them behave the way they do; I say apply the same to those assigned to guard them. Some COs, I am sure, have become hard and uncaring after years of abuse at the hands of the prisoners. I do not excuse them, but I can understand how it could happen.
1
Why is it so hard to reform Riker's? So much damning information has been made public -- much of it by New York Times reporters, rather that the official investigators, by the way -- yet we keep seeing incompetent and arguably corrupt or at least self-interested people appointed to reform the system. I have to question whether City Hall is just really bad at hiring and oversight or if they simply do not have the political will to counter various unions and other interests who might be averse to reform.
44
Get rid of this festering sore now.
8
These people in Rikers are prisoners because of their own wrongdoing.
Incarceration necessarily implies a degree of deprivation. No cigarettes, no dope, no tattoos, no special diets, no sex.
They should, however, be treated decently and humanely. If they behave they get visitors, recreation, vocational training and that's about it.
That how Rikers and other prisons should be run.
It's prison, it's not a country club.
If the people running these places can't get that through their heads then they need to be replaced.
Incarceration necessarily implies a degree of deprivation. No cigarettes, no dope, no tattoos, no special diets, no sex.
They should, however, be treated decently and humanely. If they behave they get visitors, recreation, vocational training and that's about it.
That how Rikers and other prisons should be run.
It's prison, it's not a country club.
If the people running these places can't get that through their heads then they need to be replaced.
8
"These people in Rikers are prisoners because of their own wrongdoing."
Actually, no.
Many prisoners (I do not know the proportion, but it is available) are in Rikers awaiting trial, and have not been convicted of any crime. They just can't afford bail.
And it's not a prison, it's a jail. You can look up the difference yourself - this is the internet.
Actually, no.
Many prisoners (I do not know the proportion, but it is available) are in Rikers awaiting trial, and have not been convicted of any crime. They just can't afford bail.
And it's not a prison, it's a jail. You can look up the difference yourself - this is the internet.
77
Each and every one of the "nos" you cite are available at Rikers.
1
Eric, of those eligible for bail who are confined to Rikers how many are actually guilty of the accusations? Probably almost all of them. Do prosecutors run around proferring charges against the innocent?
I would imagine that the percentage of people wrongly confined to Rikers and other such facilities who are actually innocent is miniscule. Most of those confined have no one to blame but themselves.
I would imagine that the percentage of people wrongly confined to Rikers and other such facilities who are actually innocent is miniscule. Most of those confined have no one to blame but themselves.
3