Amicus Brief on Rikers Receivership

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SUMMARY

Through the work of its Mass Incarceration Task Force and Corrections and Community Reentry Committee, the City Bar and the Vera Institute of Justice, with help from Jenner & Block LLP as pro bono counsel, moved for leave to file an amicus brief in Nunez v. City of New York. The brief was filed in response to the Court’s Contempt Order, which requested further briefing from the parties concerning proposals for the authority and structure of a federal receivership (including the process for appointing a receiver) for Rikers Island and to advise the Court of the importance of appointing a receiver who is fully independent of New York City government. “Amici respectfully submit this brief … to emphasize the importance of appointing an independent receiver: someone who is free from political pressures, union influence, and any other outside interests that might impede progress toward implementation of the Court’s orders. The nearly ten-year history of the monitorship has shown that even New York City Department of Correction Commissioners who expressed support for reform have been unable to reform the system under entrenched political, social, and legal constraints. Receivership is necessary, but it is a drastic, last-ditch measure, and maximizing its likelihood of success—along with minimizing its duration—requires that the receiver be singularly focused and loyal only to the rule of law.”