Seeking to recover the inmates’ humanity and share it with the world, acclaimed journalist Bill Moyers led a creative team in filming the documentary Rikers: An American Jail. The documentary, along with the conditions at and the future of the prison complex, were the topics discussed during an event at Fordham Law on Feb. 20.

The event, which followed New York City officials’ public considerations of the prison’s fate and the possibility of its closure in advance of an originally planned ten-year timetable, came at an opportune moment in city politics.

“We are beginning to see glimmers of light near the end of this dark tunnel,” said Matthew Diller, dean of Fordham Law, during his welcome address. “We here at Fordham Law are dedicated to shedding additional light on all of these issues.”

Bill Moyers delivered an introductory speech at the event, which was co-sponsored by the National Center for Access to Justice; the Center on Race, Law & Justice; the Urban Law Center; and the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

“I wanted to put a human face on the culture of human cruelty that flourished at Rikers,” said Moyers, who served as executive editor of the film. “There is no more powerful production value than the human face.”

The documentary gives former inmates a platform to share their personal experiences at Rikers and to inform the world that the institution is inhumane and antithetical to the democratic ethos of the country.

“Our city’s largest jail is a microcosm of so much that is wrong with mass incarceration today,” said Moyers, who before his journalism career worked as press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson. “Mass incarceration is the sharpest edge of American racism today.”

A panel discussion followed Moyer’s introductory remarks. The panelists’ conversation, which was interspersed with clips from the documentary, was moderated by Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes.

“The event could hardly be more timely with the mayor’s press conference last week, identifying four new jail sites in four of the boroughs to replace Rikers Island, and then the state coming in on the same day saying that the mayor’s plan to do this in ten years was woefully inadequate,” said Pelley.

Jonathan Lippman, former chief judge of New York and chair of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, lauded the documentary.

“It’s a haunting film, and it tells us all what we should know by now: that Rikers is an accelerator of human misery,” said Lippman, who stressed the importance of reducing the prison population and who recommended, after the prison’s eventual closure, building a monument on the island to remind our nation what the criminal justice system should not be.

Eric Gonzalez, district attorney for Kings County, addressed his office’s initiatives on bail reform—a critical task, considering that 75 percent of New York City inmates are imprisoned because they cannot afford bail.

“We are working in my office very carefully and daily on bail reform,” said Gonzalez. “When a prosecutor asks for bail, they must write to me and my executives the cases they’ve asked for bail on and they must justify why they’re asking for bail.”

Lippman and Gonzalez were joined by panelists Elizabeth Crowley, former New York City council member for the 30th district; Michael P. Jacobson, executive director of the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance; Tracey L. Meares, Walton Hale Professor of Law and founding director of The Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School and Bacon-Kilkenny Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Fordham Law; and Stanley Richards, senior vice president of The Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization committed to assisting previously incarcerated individuals readjust to society.

Formerly incarcerated himself, Richards shared his experience of the dismal prison conditions.

“The way you survive is through violence, and you learn that from day one,” he said. He added that, if not given proper assistance immediately after their release, former inmates often end up back in prison.

“It’s deforming for everybody,” said Meares, noting a collective tolerance for aggressive treatment. “It’s deforming to our democracy.”

The culture of violence at Rikers affects both detainees and correction officers, who are ten times more likely to experience assault at Rikers than any other facility. The panelists discussed how, going forward, the city must work to reduce population size, to create healthier facilities, to rethink the definition of a correction officer, and to address mental health issues.

The city is currently working to open smaller jails in each borough, with the exception of Staten Island. The initiative would reduce inmate population size and allow inmates to be closer to their families.

“I believe that we could achieve borough-based jails within five years,” Crowley, adding that Staten Island, too, should host a jail.

Above all, panelists agreed on the need for a cultural shift, stressing that citizens of this country need to think of prison not as a place of punishment but as a locus for reform.

“The overwhelming goal of these systems, especially jail systems, should be to treat people in them with the sanctity and respect of human dignity,” said Jacobson.

The event is part of the Law School’s A2J Initiative, which focuses the collective public service energy of the School to ensure greater access to justice through teaching; direct service; and scholarship, research, and advocacy.

—Lindsey Pelucacci

“My message is we need to close Rikers Island and we need to close it now, and we need all of your support,” Judge Lippman told the packed crowd of judges, prosecutors, legal scholars, and prison reform activists who convened at the all-day conference, Mass Incarceration: Mercy Matters. The conference was presented by the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, named after the influential 1945 Fordham Law graduate who successfully argued the Groveland case, involving the wrongful conviction of three African-Americans, before the United States Supreme Court. The commission was established in 1991 to educate and advise decision makers in the New York Court System on issues affecting both employees and litigants of color and now comprises over 250 members of color of the New York judiciary.

Lippman’s remarks came during an afternoon panel moderated by David Udell, director of the National Center for Access to Justice (NCAJ) at Fordham Law, titled “The Rikers Report: Reversing the Criminalization of Poverty.” The conference also featured panels on “Mass Incarceration and the Effect on the Community” and “Prosecution of Cases, Racial Bias, and Efforts to Reform the Prison System,” the latter moderated by Fordham Law Professor Tanya K. Hernández.

Glenn E. Martin, president and founder of JustLeadershipUSA and a member of the independent commission, delivered a keynote speech in which he described his own experience in Rikers and the path that led him to his present role as a leader in the movement to close the troubled prison.

Fordham Law Dean Matthew Diller, the Hon. Richard B. Lowe III, chair of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, and the Hon. Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, each shared introductory remarks. Diller praised the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission’s commitment to equal justice and fairness, celebrated the life of the commission’s namesake, and spoke about Fordham’s commitment to access to justice.

In fall 2016, Diller, Lippman, and Udell launched Fordham Law School’s Access to Justice Initiative. The Rikers Report panel was the third public discussion hosted by the initiative in the past year at Fordham Law in which NCAJ has sought to highlight the web of connections that link poverty, racial justice, the civil justice system, the criminal justice system, and the access-to-justice movement.

Much of the panel’s discussion focused on the fact that innocent people are held in Rikers because they lack sufficient funds to “purchase their freedom.” The panel exchanged views over the report’s recommendations for eliminating money bail altogether, establishing charitable revolving bail funds, relying on technology to determine dangerousness, and eliminating adjournments that have caused people who can’t make bail to languish in Rikers for extended, and often open-ended, periods of time.

Lippman told the audience that he had three requests before he had accepted the position of chair of the independent commission. He asked that the commission 1) be funded privately so there was no potential claims of government interference, 2) be populated by a broad spectrum of society, and 3) could “call it the way we saw it.”

“We understood within the first six months of our operation that mass incarceration just doesn’t work,” Lippman said. “This idea of putting people out of sight and out of mind promotes a culture of violence, brutality, and inhumanity.”

The 97-page Rikers report, A More Just New York City, prompted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vow in late March that he would close the jail complex. Whether Rikers closes in 10 years or much sooner ultimately depends on public officials showing some courage, Lippman stated.

Among the independent commission’s recommendations:

Basic criminal justice reform is needed to reduce the population of Rikers from around 10,000 to 5,000. This includes elimination of money bail and assurance of a speedy trial, renewed investment in youth, diversion of low-level misdemeanors from criminal courts, expansion of services for the mentally ill, and decriminalization of certain non-violent offenses.

Jails should be smaller, closer to the community, and closer to the inmates’ families. If jail populations around the city drop, then that would make it possible to house inmates in more central locations, such as a building attached to a courthouse, and hire fewer correctional officers.

Turn Rikers Island into an economic growth hub. If Rikers were closed, the island could house an extension for LaGuardia airport, have water treatment and solar power facilities, and affordable and commercial housing—all of which could create tens of thousands of jobs.

Build a memorial on Rikers Island. Such a monument would educate future generations about the brutal violence that took place there.

Fordham Law Professor Tanya Hernández moderated the day’s final panel, “Prosecution of Cases, Racial Bias, and Efforts to Reform the Criminal Justice System.” The panel included Bronx County District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, acting Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Yale Law Professor Anna VanCleave, and Anthony J. Annucci, acting commissioner for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

—Ray Legendre