NEW YORK — A judge on Wednesday found New York City in contempt for failing to stop violence and brutality in its prisons, a scathing ruling that puts the troubled Rikers Island prison complex on the brink of a federal takeover.

In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said the city failed to comply with 18 separate provisions of court orders related to security, staffing, supervision, use of force and the safety of youth inmates.

Swain found that “unconstitutional conditions” have worsened significantly in the nine years since the city settled claims of abuse and violence, exacerbated by jail management’s “unwillingness or inability” to implement ordered reforms.

Swain ordered the city and attorneys suing on behalf of inmates and inmates to talk with a court-appointed monitor about a proposed framework for a federal receivership — an extraordinary intervention that would have the city control one of the largest and the nation’s most notorious prison systems.

Swain wrote that the current management structure and staffing at Rikers Island and other city jails “are insufficient to turn the tide in a reasonable amount of time.” The city appears to have acted in bad faith at times in disobeying court orders, she wrote, and that continuing down the same path — with the city remaining in charge of the jails — would lead to more “confrontations and delays. “

“The Court is inclined to impose a judicial stay: namely, a remedy that will make the management of the use of force and security aspects of the Rikers Island prisons ultimately answerable directly to the Court,” Swain wrote, ordering the parties to offers him January 14 a blueprint for “effective and efficient judicial administration.”

The 65-page ruling stemmed from litigation that began more than a decade ago with allegations by a public defender organization, the Legal Aid Society and others that the city’s Department of Corrections engaged in a pattern of excessive and unnecessary force.

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward Legal Aid Society and Law Firm & Maazel LLP hailed the “historic decision” and said it would “finally create a path to reform that can protect those who have failed” prison authorities.

“The court’s recognition that the current structure has failed and that judicial administration free from political and other outside influences is the way forward can ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of incarceration status, are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve guaranteed under the law. law,” they said.

For now, barring further action by Swain, the city remains in control of its jails.

In a statement, the city said it has “made significant progress in addressing decades of neglect and problems at Rikers Island” and praised Department of Corrections Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie “as the safe hand needed” to protect inmates and staff.

“We are proud of our work, but recognize there is more to do and look forward to working with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails,” the city said.

A message seeking comment was left for the union representing correctional officers, which has vehemently opposed a federal takeover.

Rates of violence, use of force, self-harm and in-custody deaths in the city’s jails have “demonstrated worse” since the city and the parties agreed in October 2015 to a settlement, a consent decree and the appointment of a federal monitor, the Swain said. .

“Worse still, unsafe and dangerous conditions in prisons, which are characterized by unprecedented rates of use of force and violence, have become normalized despite being clearly abnormal and unacceptable,” Swain wrote.

Nineteen people died in custody at Rikers Island in 2022. Another nine died in 2023, and five died in the first eight months of this year. At the same time, rates of stabbings and cuts, fights, assaults on staff “remain extraordinarily high,” Swain said.

“There has been no substantial reduction in the risk of harm currently faced by those who live and work in Rikers Island prisons,” the judge wrote.

Attorneys for the inmates and inmates first asked the judge to hold the city in contempt and place him on trial about a year ago. They said corrections officers still use headbutts on inmates and banned techniques such as choking, hitting and using force on detainees.

Lawyers also argued that agency management consistently ignored a monitor’s recommendations and failed to take steps to curb abuses. In September, Swain ordered city officials to begin developing a plan for a possible federal takeover.

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