The U.S. Is Suing New York Over a Horrific Pattern of Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Federal prosecutors sued New York City on Thursday over alleged civil rights violations after a Department of Justice investigation found a "deep-seated culture of violence" against young inmates at the Rikers Island jail.
The DOJ's lengthy investigation found that the New York Department of Corrections "relies too heavily on punitive segregation as a disciplinary measure, placing adolescent inmates in what amounts to solitary confinement at an alarming rate and for excessive periods of time."
An administrative law judge recommended in September that the six officers involved in Hinton's brutal beating were fired, but this sort of excessive force persists at Rikers.
Editors Note: Mar. 2, 2015
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