Sign On Letter: Stop the Transfer to DOCCS
Governor Hochul and Mayor de Blasio:
We are writing to demand that you listen to the voices of incarcerated people and immediately stop transferring women and trans people from Rikers Island to New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) prisons against their will.
More than 125 people held at the Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC) have signed a petition urging not to be transferred to state prison. On October 13th they wrote:
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"We have begun to hear rumors that the female detainees at Rikers will be moved to Bedford Correctional Facility as of Monday October 18, 2021.
We are 100% opposed to this!!!
What is really the sudden emergency? And how does making female detainees more isolated and less able to meet with counsel, court, advocates, and visitors address the emergency? It doesn’t. This is the complete opposite of the past 5 years of discussion about why Rikers must be closed. Moving women in order to house men in our living quarters violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection under the law.
This is simply a political maneuver designed to accomplish the closing of Rikers in name only. In reality inhabitants at Rikers are being further violated once again, starting with the women. How dare the governor sacrifice women for a photo op headline?! This false state of emergency in no way justifies creating new obstacles to justice for detained women. We are unequivocally opposed to this edict and we will not be silenced.
If you’re going to declare an emergency, we insist that the gov’t shoulder the burden, not the women who are already subjected to lengthy detention. A tolerable solution is to negotiate release conditions, not to further bury chronic violations of due process.
Don’t be another perpetrator of domestic violence—silencing us, hiding us, abusing your power."
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On October 21st--despite the women's demands--you began to transfer women to state prison.
We write to fully support the women's demands, urge you to immediately stop forced transfers, and call on you to take aggressive steps to decarcerate.
Decarceration is gender and trans justice. Shipping women and trans people to state prison will further separate them from families and children, community support, legal defense teams, and social workers. Transfers to state prison will also expose trans people to great risk of harm because DOCCS has inadequate and discriminatory policies guiding the housing of trans people and grossly insufficient protections for respectful and safe treatment of trans people in state prisons.
Decarceration is immigrant justice. New York City’s detainer policies do not extend to DOCCS. Forcible transfers will put non-citizens at risk of ICE arrest, detention, and deportation, and will cement family separation. Transferring these people walks back NYC’s commitment to not subject non-citizens to ICE enforcement at the end of their jail time.
Decarceration is disability justice. Most people detained at RMSC are living with complex trauma and mental health needs, including more than 80% who are receiving mental health treatment under the “Brad H” designation. Forcibly moving them out of the city unacceptably complicates vital care coordination and firm connections to services for people who will ultimately be released.
Decarceration is racial justice. More than 84% of people held at RMSC are non-white and more than 54% are Black. Your administrations regularly trumpet the importance of racial justice, yet your decision to transfer hundreds of Black women and trans people to DOCCS custody against their will summarily denies their dignity.
The paths to decarceration are clear:
-Implement the Less Is More Act immediately by lifting parole detainers today.
-Release people at Rikers who are serving city sentences pursuant to Correction Law 6A.
-Demand prosecutors and judges consent to release immediately and utilize existing alternative to detention support services.
-Fully fund transitional housing and support services in the community.
People who are currently incarcerated at Rikers have asked you to summon the political will to stop transfers and decarcerate again.
We demand that you listen to their voices.