Created by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and chaired by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, the blue-ribbon Commission has spent the past year developing a blueprint for how to safely reduce the city’s jail population. Mark-Viverito and Judge Lippman described this vision in a New York Times op-ed entitled, Closing Rikers Island Is a Moral Imperative.
The Center for Court Innovation is proud to have worked with a multi-agency team to staff the Lippman Commission and produce its report. Our partners in this effort included the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance, Vera Institute of Justice, Latham & Watkins LLP, Forest City Ratner Companies, Global Strategy Group, and HR&A Advisors.
There are miles to go before the dream of closing Rikers Island can be realized. But it is worth pausing today to celebrate this landmark moment.