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Chief Investigator At Rikers Island Quits Amid Controversy
By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Aug 24, 2014
Modified Aug 24, 2014
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By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Aug 24, 2014
Modified Aug 24, 2014
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The chief investigator at Rikers Island has left her post after a series of controversies surrounding the abuse of inmates, the use of solitary confinement on juveniles, and a federal report that threatened to place the prison under federal control.
Deputy Commissioner Florence Finkle resigned her post on Friday, a day after the City Council voted on new oversight measures for the embattled prison.
“She was told that her time was coming, so she decided to go out this way,” a source in the Department of Corrections told The Daily News.
Finkle had come under fire for a cozy relationship to the Department of Corrections, which allegedly allowed correctional officers to abuse detainees with impugnity.
"Most of these young men are pre-trial detainees who are innocent until proven guilty," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wrote in a report earlier this month. "But whether they are pre-trial or convicted, they are entitled to be detained safely and in accordance with their Constitutional rights—not consigned to a corrections crucible that seems more inspired by Lord of the Flies than any legitimate philosophy of humane detention."
No replacement for Finkle has been named. According to The New York Times, Finkle's office was found the Federal investigation to be "overwhelmed by the number of cases and largely ineffectual."
The city has a little less than a month to make substantial changes at Rikers Island before the federal officials will intervene at the prison.
Tagged
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department of corrections
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Rikers Island
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Max Rivlin-Nadler has been a contributor to Gothamist since 2013. He has also reported for the New York Times, NPR, and The Intercept. His years-long investigation into New York City's arcane civil forfeiture laws led to a series of reforms which altered a practice that had been taking millions from poor communities for decades. Recently, he brought back a surfing habit from a few years on the west coast, and would love to see you all out in the Rockaways.
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