Council, public advocate sue NYC Mayor Adams over order suspending solitary confinement ban

The City Council and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams filed suit against Mayor Adams early Monday over his emergency order to suspend the central elements of a law passed in December barring solitary confinement on Rikers Island and in city jails.

The mayor signed the emergency executive order on July 27 which suspended elements of Local Law 42, arguing safety in the city’s jails was at stake. He had vetoed the bill in January, but the council overrode his veto by a vote of 42 to 9.

The council’s lawsuit argues the mayor violated New York state Executive Law 24 which states the mayor of a municipality can only declare an emergency in the event of an extreme situation – specifically, “disaster, rioting, catastrophe, or similar public emergency” or “apprehension” of those things.

The lawsuit alleges no mayor in the city’s history has used emergency powers “as an end-run around a local law,” the lawsuit states, adding Adams never “identified an imminent emergency that required a swift unilateral response.”

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams called the order an “unprecedented abuse of power.” “Mayor Adams’ decision to exceed his legal authority, simply because he was overruled, undermines the foundation of our democracy, and it must be invalidated,” she said.

In a statement, Amaris Cockfield, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said, “To be clear, solitary confinement was eliminated in city jails in 2019. To continue to protect public health and safety in Department of Correction jails, the mayor issued a narrowly-tailored executive order focused on reducing violence in our jails. We will review the suit if and when it is filed.”

The council lawsuit makes good on a resolution the council passed July 17, 10 days before the mayor’s order, giving the legislative body the authority  to “engage in legal action to defend” the law.

The council expected the city to bring their opposition to the law before Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is presiding over the Nunez class action lawsuit that led to the creation of the federal monitor tracking jail violence and staff use of force, the lawsuit states.

“Mayor Adams and DOC never filed their promised motion with Chief Judge Swain,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, the Mayor took matters into his own hands:”

On July 27, one day before the provisions of the law were to take effect, Mayor Adams signed the 11-page “Emergency Executive Order 625.”

The order said to protect the safety of jail staff and detainees, provisions of Local Law 42 would be suspended, including restrictions on emergency lock-ins, use of restraints, and confining detainees in their cells for extended periods.

The order noted DOC told the Council that elements of the law conflict with court orders in the Nunez case which DOC is required to follow. The law would “remove key tools” needed to reduce violence, protect staff and detainees and would “likely result in an increase in violence’ in the jails.

Adams based the order in part on a July 17 letter from the federal monitor tracking violence and use of force in the jails which also argued the law could “exacerbate already dangerous conditions” and required study of how the changes would effect jail operations.

Speaking to the press July 30, the mayor defended the move.

“We don’t have solitary confinement in New York City,” he said. “That was a bait and switch where people took an emotional terminology and they put it out there, and all of us started buying on it.”

His then-legal counsel Lisa Zornberg insisted solitary confinement hasn’t existed in the jails since 2019. Zornberg resigned Sept 15, reportedly because the mayor would not heed her advice to fire top aides embroiled in the City Hall corruption scandal.

Williams said Sunday the mayor was “desperately trying to maintain a status quo on Rikers that is dangerous to people on both sides of the bars.”

The emergency order was one of more than 200 jail-related emergency executive orders he has signed in his nearly three-year tenure. The bulk of those suspended the so-called Minimum Standards, a set of detailed rules governing jail conditions.

Mayor de Blasio, amidst a massive uniformed staffing shortage, signed the first of those in Sept. 15, 2021. The orders had to be renewed every five days. After his election in January 2022, Mayor Adams continued the practice, renewing it with his signature every five days.

The council lawsuit more broadly could be seen as a challenge of the mayor’s use of emergency executive orders.

“The Mayor’s illegal suspension of Local Law 42 sets a dangerous precedent for future mayors to abuse their emergency powers when they are dissatisfied with the outcome of lawful democratic processes and have lost a policy debate,” the lawsuit states.

In three years, Adams has signed 702 executive orders, many of the “emergency” variety – a higher rate than any other mayor. The bulk of those emergency orders involved Rikers and the large influx of migrants.

De Blasio used the tool 334 times in two terms, including many emergency orders for COVID, Hurricane Ida and those for the jails, records show.

Mayor Bloomberg issued 465 executive orders in three terms, including 345 emergency orders chiefly related to an enduring strike of some bus lines and Hurricane Sandy, records show

Before that the tool was used more sparingly and rarely for emergencies, archival records show. Mayor Giuliani issued just 53 in two terms, including one emergency order for a transit strike. Just one executive order referenced the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Mayor Dinkins issued 63 in one term with no emergency orders, while Mayor Koch signed 125 in two terms including just three emergency orders – twice for needed housing repairs and  once for the 1980 transit strike.

Mayor Beame who served one term from 1972 to 1977 issued 97 but just one emergency order — for housing repair.