De Blasio wants to end solitary confinement in NYC jails

Mayor Bill de Blasio called for New York City jails to end solitary confinement Monday — as he further limited which inmates could be placed in punitive segregation.

“We have proven that we can keep jails safe with much less use of solitary confinement punitive segregation,” de Blasio said Monday in a press conference.

“So let’s take the next step, let’s end solitary confinement altogether.”

The city will create a working group — which will include Department of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann, Board of Correction vice president Stanley Richards, president of JustLeadershipUSA Deanna Hoskins and a member of the correction officers’ union — that will present a report on ending the practice in the fall.

“[W]e have a lot to do to create more safety for people who are incarcerated and for correction officers and employees alike,” Hizzoner added.

The mayor also expanded the list of pre-existing conditions that would prohibit inmates from being placed in solitary.

The list includes asthma, seizure, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, transplant status, treatment with blood thinners or those with disabilities, such as being in a wheelchair, walker or are blind or deaf.

The expanded exclusion list comes just days after the DOC announced charges against 17 uniformed officers in the death of Layleen Polanco, a 27-year-old transgender inmate on Rikers Island following a yearlong probe.

Polanco was being held isolation when she died on June 7, 2019, after suffering from an epileptic seizure.

Under the new policy, Polanco would not have been placed in solitary.

The expanded list of conditions includes: asthma, seizure, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, transplant status, treatment with blood thinners or those with disabilities, such as being in a wheelchair, walk or are blind or deaf.

Legal Aid welcomed NYC ending the “inhumane” practice — but said the move was “too little, too late” for some, such as Polanco.

“The medical conditions that make solitary confinement exceptionally dangerous were known long before Layleen Polanco’s death, and she might still be with her family and chosen family today had the City acted on that knowledge earlier,” a spokesperson for the group said, calling on it to end immediately.

“We cannot wait until the fall.”

A rep for the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association did not immediately respond for comment.