NYC solitary confinement banned in jails under controversial bill approved by city council

NEW YORK CITY - New York City Council members approved two controversial bills on Wednesday that will ban solitary confinement in city jails and force police to submit reports on every person they stop as part of an investigation. 

Mayor Eric Adams has left the door open on vetoing the bills, but the city council has enough votes to override his veto if needed. 

"The truth is we are in a crisis in this city," Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli said at a rally, alongside law enforcement, outside City Hall ahead of the vote. 

What is the solitary confinement bill?

The first bill will limit the practice of solitary confinement in city jails to only allow for a detainee to be isolated for a four-hour "de-escalation" period during an emergency. 

"I want every New Yorker to imagine being on the subway, somebody's getting cut on the subway or raping somebody on the subway, and my brothers and sisters back here and locking them up and putting them in jail for four hours and then releasing them back to the public," Benny Boscio, president of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association said. "That's what they want to do to every correction officer on Rikers Island."

The Adams administration, which is against the bill, argues there is no longer such a thing as solitary confinement – rather what’s called restrictive housing. Currently, detainees living in restrictive housing are allowed seven hours outside. Under the new bill, it would be expanded to 14 hours. 

"The UN has called solitary confinement torture and that is what we want to end," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. "We want to make sure that the psychological effects of isolation that is proven is not something that is done anywhere in the city."

However, the correctional officers union said there has been over 6,500 assaults against correction officers over the last three years, including 51 sexual assaults against female officers. According to critics, the bill severely limits correction officers’ ability to punish repeatedly violent detainees. 

However, Williams said there are other options. 

"They can take away privileges," Williams said. "They can add programming, so there's a lot of things that can be done. They could also get re-arrested."

What is the ‘How Many Stops’ bill?

The other bill passed by the city council is called ‘How Many Stops', which would require police to record all level 1, 2 and 3 stops. 

Sponsors of the bill said a cop would not have to record public interactions, for example, if a tourist were to ask for directions, but would have to fill out a form for all investigatory encounters, which includes logging the person’s race and age of every person they speak to. 

Supporters of the bill said it would help increase transparency about whether there is racial profiling within the NYPD. 

"We're here to close the loop," Donna Lieberman, with the NYCLU, said outside City Hall. "We’re not getting enough information, the vast majority of stops are going unreported."

However, critics of the bill said it will bog the NYPD down in paperwork. Williams said the questions will take police 10-20 seconds to fill out, but many on the other side disagree and said it will keep officers from being able to do their jobs. 

"Every minute and every second counts when you get to that job," Louis Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association said. "So we're gonna have our officers sit there and do reports. It makes no sense."

City council members did admit though Wednesday that not all the data is going to be available. For example, during level one stops, a person doesn’t necessarily have to stay to give their information. 

So if they do leave, Williams said cops are supposed to use their "perception" to guess a person’s age and race, which some say will lead to inaccurate data.