In his first major public policy assignment since stepping down as the state’s chief judge, Jonathan Lippman has been enlisted to head a commission to review New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex and the criminal justice policies that keep it supplied with offenders.
Formation of the commission was announced Thursday by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in her State of the City address. She said she hopes it will lead ultimately to the closure of Rikers, which she called a symbol for “our worst tendencies and our biggest failures.”
