NYC mayor issues emergency order suspending parts of new solitary confinement law

New York City’s mayor issued an emergency order Saturday suspending parts of a new law intended to ban solitary confinement in local jails a day before it was to take effect, citing concerns for the safety of staff and detainees.

Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency and signed an order that suspended parts of the law that set a four-hour time limit on holding prisoners who pose safety concerns in “de-escalation confinement” and limit the use of restraints on prisoners while they are transported to courts or within jails.

The four-hour limit could only be exceeded only in “exceptional circumstances.” In those circumstances, prisoners would be released from de-escalation confinement “as soon as practicable” and when they no longer pose an imminent risk of serious injury to themselves or others, according to the mayor’s order.

Adams also suspended a part of the law that prohibited jail officials from placing a prisoner in longer-term “restrictive housing” for more than a total of 60 days in any 12-month period. His order says jail officials must review a prisoner’s placement in restrictive housing every 15 days.

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