New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing the immediate end of punitive segregation for people with underlying medical conditions, his support for ending solitary confinement entirely in New York City, and the creation of a working group to determine the path forward. This decision came after the announcement that 17 officers will face disciplinary action related to the death of Layleen Polanco in solitary confinement.
"I was glad to see that the officers involved in Layleen Polanco's death are facing some level of consequence, and I hope that her family will see some semblance of justice. No amount of charges or suspensions can take away the pain and reality of her death, and we need to dismantle the systems that tacitly or overtly permitted it.
"As I have said many times before, we need to end solitary confinement in the city and ultimately the state of New York, for Layleen Polanco and Nicholas Feliciano, for Kalief Browder, and for so many others who have been subject to this torture. Solitary confinement causes deep and permanent psychological, physical, and social harm, and the Mayor's working group, which has been convened too late but is welcome now, must move quickly to develop a plan that the administration can immediately enact. I thank all of the advocates who have gotten us to this point, and I would point the Mayor to the blueprint they have already developed to move us forward. We cannot wait any longer to end what is for all an abuse and for some a death sentence."
The Public Advocate has called for a complete end to solitary confinement since 2019, and reiterated that call in an op-ed last week.
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