Travon Explores the Humanitarian Crisis on Rikers Island

Rikers is a pretrial detention center and while people await their day in court, the conditions at the island are simply inhumane due to violence, overcrowding and inadequate medical care. Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027 but at the rate we’re going, eighty more people might die on the island before the jail is shut down. How do we untangle this culture of perpetual violence at Rikers? And could an intervention called a federal receivership make conditions more humane for the people who live there? Host Travon Free uncovers why a receivership might be the only solution that could actually make things better for people right now. 

The Untold Story is a Lemonada Media original and is presented by Campaign Zero. This episode is produced by Nicolle Galteland with production help from Hannah Boomershine and Priscilla Alabi. Supervising producer is Kristen Lepore. Production intern is Jala Everett. Fact checking by Steve Crighton. Music, sound design and mixing by Hannis Brown. Engineering from Andrea Kristinsdottir. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs, DeRay Mckesson and Jay Ellis. You can find host Travon Free on Instagram and Twitter: @Travon. 

Resources:

• The Rikers in Crisis Campaign
• The New York Times: Tracking the Deaths in New York City’s Jail System in 2022
• The Brennan Center: Receiverships for Jails and Prisons, Explained, The Way Forward for Rikers Island: Receivership
• The Fortune Society: At pivotal time for Rikers, experts say federal control is best path forward
• The Columbia Justice Lab: Pros and Cons of Receiverships as a Catalyst for Institutional Reform
• Vital City: The Fatal Cost of Waiting: What Must Happen Now in the City’s Jails
• WNYC/ Gothamist: Correction commissioner absent from oversight hearing as Rikers Island violence escalates
• Just leadership USA
• The Close Rikers Campaign
• The Legal Aid Society 

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