Latest news with #andJustice
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Woman detainee dies at Rikers, 4th death in 30 days amid spike in NYC jails population
NEW YORK — A woman held on Rikers Island died by possible suicide early Thursday, according to correction officials and sources. The death, an apparent suicide according to sources, took place in West Facility and is the fourth fatality connected to New York City jails since Feb. 19. It comes amid growing concern as the city's jail population has crested over 7,000. Sarena Townsend, a lawyer and former deputy commissioner for trials and investigations, called the spate of deaths 'startling.' 'We've seen spikes like this in the past when leaders have either lost focus or placed the wrong people into management positions,' she said. 'Here, I think the spike is related to the increase in population and the staff's inability to manage all of the detainees. Gang activity and drug use is still rampant on the Island so the chaos on the island has not abated. 'Without proper accountability, and without managers who can handle the increase in population, deaths and constitutional violations are bound to happen,' she said. Correction officials said the woman, who has yet to be identified, was declared dead at 5:23 a.m. They did not confirm the cause of death. Staff handing out breakfast did not receive a response from her at about 4:47 a.m. and tried to revive her with a medical team but were unsuccessful. The case, which marks the second dath in five days connected to NYC jails, is under investigation. On Saturday, Ariel Quidone, 20, who had been detained at Rikers for about a week, died in Elmhurst Hospital after being taken there Thursday. Ramel Powell died Feb. 19 in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center and Terence Moore died Feb. 24 in a holding cell in the Manhattan courthouse. Melanie Dominguez, organizing director for the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said, 'The crisis is hitting a tipping point this month with four deaths on Rikers. Instead of working to save lives, Eric Adams is hellbent on sending more Black, brown, and low-income New Yorkers to Rikers, and now the jail population is over 7000 for the first time since 2019. This is unacceptable.' The West Facility started as the communicable disease facility, but has since mushroomed into a hodgepodge of ailing people, difficult to handle detainees and a number of dorm units that were recently expanded. The total population is now in the hundreds. 'Care for those in our facilities is a pillar of our mission and a loss of life weighs heavily on every member of service. The department grieves this loss and shares our condolences with her loved ones. This death will be investigated thoroughly,' DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said. The death is the first indication women were also being housed in West, which has been a male facility for decades. It was not clear Thursday how many women are housed there instead of the Rose M. Singer Center which was built as a women's jail, but now also houses men in a high security section. Citing overcrowding, DOC received approval March 11 to expand 12 dorms in the West Facility from 50 beds to 56 beds — one of three jails where they asked to increase the population. Figures posted by the Vera Institute show the jail population has gone over 7,000 for the first time in years. Former DOC Commissioner Louis Molina predicted it would reach that number by the end of 2024 and was only a few months off. On May 2, 2020, the system reached a decades-low of 3,828, the Vera figures show. Since then, the population has grown steadily, except for a dip from September 2021 to December 2021. As of Wednesday, the total was 7,056, with 4,006 or 57% having a diagnosed mental health issue. The Adams administration has characterized the population increase as unavoidable given the serious charges facing many of the detainees. But on Wednesday, the Independent Rikers Commission in a report called the jail population 'artificial inflated' due to court backlogs and the high mentally ill population.
Express Tribune
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Senate body adopts civil courts bill
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday adopted the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The law committee convened under the chairmanship of Senator Farooq Hamid Naek to review and discuss several key legislative bills. The committee adopted the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2025, as introduced by Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Minister for Law and Justice. The bill, which had already been passed by the National Assembly, aims to reduce the mounting burden of litigation on the appellate side of the Islamabad High Court. The bill seeks to address the growing issue of pendency in the Islamabad High Court, which has been exacerbated by the rising property prices in the Islamabad territory. As property valuations now exceed twenty-five hundred thousand rupees, a significant number of regular first appeals against civil court orders and decrees have increased the caseload. Senator Tarar highlighted the necessity of having district courts entertain such matters, thereby reducing pressure on the appellate side of the Islamabad High Court. The committee also addressed the issue of the delay in notifying the nomination of Senator Hamid Khan as a member of the Board of Governors of the Legal Aid and Justice Authority. Chairman Senator Farooq Hamid Naek directed that the nomination be notified at the earliest and that the committee be updated on the progress. The Senate body engaged in a detailed discussion regarding the 'Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024', introduced by Senator Munzoor Ahmed and Danesh Kumar. The bill, which seeks to amend Article 51 of the Constitution, was debated with input from the Ministry. The committee took note of the findings from the 2023 population census, which revealed that the Christian community is predominantly concentrated in Punjab, while the Hindu community is largely based in Sindh. This geographical disparity could pose challenges if each province is designated as a single constituency for minority reserved seats. The committee chairman advised further review of the bill based on population data and under the relevant legal framework. The movers of the bill requested additional time to consider amendments. Similarly, the committee deliberated on the 'Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024', introduced by Senator Khalida Ateeb. This bill was deferred due to the lack of support from the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the pending comments from other provincial governments. The 'Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024', moved by Senator Aon Abbas, which proposes the creation of a new province of South Punjab, was also deferred. Additionally, the 'Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024', introduced by Senator Muhammad Abdul Qadir, which proposes an amendment to Article 27 concerning quotas, was deferred for further review. The committee chairman expressed the need to review previous judgments by the Supreme Court on the matter of time limits for quotas before proceeding.
