Whoever replaces Joseph Ponte as the head of New York City’s jail system should be committed to closing the troubled Rikers Island jail complex and reducing violence there until it does, criminal justice advocates say.
“As long as Rikers exists, we absolutely have to have leadership and commitment to ending so much of the inhumanity and the brutality,” said Jonathan Lippman, who chaired the commission that studied conditions at Rikers and recommended its closure. “You need strong management. There is no excuse in any jail facility to have the kinds of things go on that have gone on at Rikers.”
