New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a ban on solitary confinement in city jails that was overwhelmingly passed by the city council. He also vetoed separate legislation that would require more transparency on data from the NYPD.
"Vetoing this bill will keep those in our custody and our correction officers safer," said Adams in a statement Friday after vetoing the solitary confinement legislation. Adams is a former NYPD police officer.
Adams said if the bill were to take effect, "the Department of Correction would no longer be able to protect people in custody, or the union workers charged with their safety, from violent individuals."
The new bill would require all people in city custody to have at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time in a congregate setting "unless for the purpose of de-escalation confinement or during emergency lock-ins," which would limit the confinement to a maximum of four hours after an incident or confrontation.
The bill defines solitary confinement "as any placement of an incarcerated person in a cell, other than at night for sleeping, for a period not to exceed eight hours in any 24-hour period or during the day for a count not to exceed two hours in any 24-hour period."
Current city policy uses the term "restrictive housing" rather than solitary confinement.
The current policy requires someone placed in this "restrictive housing" to have a minimum of seven hours outside of their cell, according to the Board of Corrections. Steve Martin, the court-appointed monitor to the city's correctional facilities, argues this policy does not constitute solitary confinement, which traditionally refers to the limitation of out-of-cell time to up to four hours a day.
Adams said the city already does not use solitary confinement. "In fact, we have achieved significant reductions in key indicators of violence in our correction system without solitary confinement," he said.