A Homeless Man Has Spent 800 Days At Rikers After Stealing Cold Medicine. Now His Prison Sentence May Be Beginning. Blind in one eye and at risk of losing vision in the other, 58-year-old Reginald Randolph is now on the verge of being sent to state prison to serve out a maximum of four years. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New York City Has People on Parole In Jails At Rates Not Seen Since The Early Pandemic Despite calls to reduce incarcerated populations, the number of people being detained for minor parole violations has been rising. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Don’t Delay on Closing Rikers The city says COVID-19 budget constraints will set back its plans to close the jail but people incarcerated there are suffering from the disease right now. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
America’s Biggest City Was Hit Hard By COVID-19. Its Jails Are Filling Up Again New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say dishonest fearmongering about bail reform—and the politicians who capitulated to it—have created a very real safety crisis. Joshua Manson
Andrew Cuomo Promised Criminal Justice Reforms, But New York Is Still Waiting The governor has rolled back bail reform, not released enough prisoners during the pandemic, and failed to rein in police abuses, advocates and prisoners say. Rebecca McCray
New York City’s Public Housing Rules Could Force Many Released Prisoners Into Homelessness As thousands of people are freed from local jails, a group of nonprofits and activist organizations says the city's housing authority must revamp its policies that banish the formerly incarcerated. Jerry Iannelli
There Must Be Mass Releases From NYC Jails Immediately – It’s The Only Way To Protect Public Health New data obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request paint a dire picture of New York City COVID-19 testing in its jails. Brad Maurer, Seth J. Prins, Sandhya Kajeepeta
Budget Cuts May Keep Rikers Open Past 2027 Deadline Reductions in budgets related to the novel coronavirus have slowed New York City’s plan to close Rikers by building new jails, and it’s becoming increasingly possible that the city will not meet its January 2027 deadline. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
A Man With Coronavirus Symptoms At Rikers Island Describes His Ordeal ‘I would go to the hospital very often and they wouldn’t do anything for me.’ Kim Kelly
Parole Violations Nearly Sentenced These People To COVID-19 Twenty-eight people were to attend weeks-long drug treatment programs after violating parole. The COVID-19 pandemic nearly trapped them in jail indefinitely. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
At the Center of the Coronavirus Pandemic, People Inside NYC Jails Describe Fear, Confusion and a Lack of Supplies 'They're not supplying us with masks, they’re not supplying us gloves, they're not supplying us with decent cleaning supplies.' Kim Kelly
New York City Jails Have an Alarmingly High Infection Rate, According to an Analysis by the Legal Aid Society “Based on this analysis, New York City jails have become the epicenter of COVID-19,” a Legal Aid attorney said. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
An Update On What’s Happening Inside Rikers Island as Coronavirus Spreads “The doctors said they were going to come and do screenings every day, but for the past two days, they’ve just come into the dorm and stood by the front door and yelled, ‘Does anybody have any symptoms?’” Kim Kelly
What It’s Like to Be Inside Rikers Island As Coronavirus Spreads “Still no hand sanitizer, no bleach.” Kim Kelly
Coronavirus Has Come to Rikers, and the People Inside Are Fighting to Survive The island’s Communicable Disease Unit is already overflowing with quarantined people. Kim Kelly
Rikers Island Physician Voices Coronavirus Fears As Cuomo Meets With Officials Looking To Scuttle Bail Reforms Late Wednesday, the chief physician at the Rikers jail complex said on Twitter that judges and prosecutors must not leave New York City's jailed population ‘in harm’s way.’ Lauren Gill
Protesters Rally in Albany to Oppose Bail Reform Rollback Advocates, formerly incarcerated people, and lawmakers warned against overhauling the New York law before it has a chance to prove itself. Bryce Covert
As Bail Reform Takes Hold Across New York State, a Rural County Wrestles With The Future Of Its Aging Jail The debate around bail reform focused predominantly on New York City's Rikers Island, but the bigger impact may be upstate, where almost two-thirds of the state’s jail capacity is located. Ted Alcorn
Michael Bloomberg Should Apologize For More Than Stop-and-Frisk, Critics Say The billionaire and former New York City mayor defended the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslim Americans and mandatory minimum prison sentences for gun possession, among other policies. Aaron Morrison
It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian. Kelly Hayes
Say No to New Jails in New York City The mayor claims that building new jails is the only safe way to close Rikers Island jail complex, but the City Council shouldn’t fall for this Faustian bargain. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
‘We’ve Got One In The Sweep’ Three Bronx friends recount their 2012 arrests in the NYPD’s ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ along with their experiences with the court system and incarceration, and reflect on their lives seven years later. Olivia Heffernan
Spotlight: De Blasio—The Circumstances of Layleen Polanco’s Death Shouldn’t Be So Perplexing Sarah Lustbader
Incarceration Is Always a Policy Failure Instead of building ‘humane jails’ to replace Rikers Island, let’s push the NYPD to cut down on arrests. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Overdose In An Arizona Prison? Get Ready To Pay Up. ‘Worst policy imaginable’ punishes, rather than treats, patients who earn less than a dollar an hour, advocates say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Appeal’s Favorite Stories of 2018 Our staff picks 12 stories worth reading (or rereading) before the new year.
Why Are Women Getting Stuck in Rikers? New York City has reduced its jail population, but those who remain are staying longer. Ethan Corey, Raven Rakia
Despite New Rules, NYC Is Still Jailing People Long After They Post Bail A new Bronx Freedom Fund report documents these extended pretrial lockups, which threaten people’s jobs and destabilize families. George Joseph
Moving Teens Off Rikers Island Was a Good First Step. Now Comes the Hard Part. The rocky implementation of New York’s Raise the Age law shows that young people in detention need love, not force. Rubén Austria
Queens Prosecutor: Kalief Browder’s Suicide Wasn’t About Rikers City Council Member Rory Lancman, who was debating Assistant District Attorney James Quinn over the future of Rikers Island, blasted Quinn's comments on Browder, who spent three years incarcerated without a trial. George Joseph
How Activists Convinced New York City To Stop Profiting Off Prisoners’ Phone Calls News of the victory is spreading rapidly to other cities. Bryce Covert
EXCLUSIVE: Documents Reveal Bronx DA’s Office Is Still Withholding Key Evidence In Prosecution of Bronx Teen Pedro Hernandez’s case has inspired calls for reform, but he’s still being targeted for an alleged cell phone theft. Simon Davis-Cohen, George Joseph
Locked up for three decades without a trial A New York City man has been shuffled between Rikers Island and mental hospitals for 32 years. George Joseph, Simon Davis-Cohen
The Appeal Podcast Episode 4: How Prison Reform Was Co-Opted to Sell More Prisons With journalists Raven Rakia and Ashoka Jegroo. Adam H. Johnson
How the Push to Close Rikers Went From No Jails To New Jails Activists say a once-radical campaign has been co-opted. Raven Rakia, Ashoka Jegroo
Lawyer for Pedro Hernandez Says Bronx DA’s Office Is Still Withholding Key Evidence Max Rivlin-Nadler
#MeToo in NYC’s Jail System: Why New Department of Correction Policies on Sexual Abuse Fall Short Victoria Law
Bronx prosecutor, detectives allegedly bullied witnesses to make case against Pedro Hernandez Carimah Townes
Why is the Bronx District Attorney holding Pedro Hernandez at Rikers Island? Nick Encalada-Malinowski
