Inmates left without critical medical care at Rikers, legal groups charge

August 11, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Rikers Island jail complex, where legal groups allege widespread denial of medical care to detainees, leading to a motion seeking contempt charges against the NYC Department of Correction. Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP

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The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services have filed a motion in court on Thursday, accusing the NYC Department of Correction (DOC) of routinely denying inmates access to necessary medical care.

The motion seeks to hold the DOC in contempt of court for ongoing failures to ensure that detainees receive timely medical attention. According to the filing, the DOC has failed to transport detainees to medical appointments thousands of times each month, often without notifying them, later claiming that the detainees had “refused care.”

“Detainees are blocked from medical care in myriad ways,” the motion states. The alleged obstructions include a lack of transportation to medical appointments, insufficient staff to escort detainees, and situations where detainees are in lockdown, unable to leave their cells or even use the phone to request medical assistance.

The filing comes in the wake of the recent death of Charizma Jones, a 23-year-old detainee at Rikers Island. According to the motion, Jones was not taken to a medical appointment despite being in clear need of care. Over two days in May, medical workers attempted to check on her, but correction officers reportedly barred them from entering her cell. Jones subsequently fell into a coma and later died at the Weill Cornell Burn Center. The Legal Aid Society described her death in the motion as “an egregious denial of access to medical care.”

This motion is the latest in a series of legal challenges against the embattled jail complex. Over the past year, a federal monitor overseeing the jails has highlighted persistent dysfunction and dangers at Rikers Island. In November, the federal government, alongside the Legal Aid Society, requested a federal judge to strip the city of control over the complex.

The upcoming hearing, scheduled for September, will determine whether the DOC will be held in contempt for failing to reduce violence within the jails. The groups representing the detainees originally filed a class-action lawsuit in 2021, accusing the DOC of denying medical care to inmates. Despite a court order in December 2021 mandating the DOC to ensure timely access to medical care, the groups allege that the situation has only deteriorated.

In May 2022, a state judge held the DOC in contempt for failing to comply with the court’s order, but the frequency of missed appointments has since increased. The motion states that in October 2021, the DOC failed to transport inmates to 7,671 medical appointments, a figure that ballooned to 12,224 by May 2024 — nearly a quarter of all scheduled appointments.

The filing also includes the testimony of Kevin Gamble, a 62-year-old inmate with diabetes, who claimed in an affidavit that he missed care daily over seven months in 2023. Gamble requires two daily blood sugar checks and insulin injections, yet records show the DOC marked 44 of his missed appointments as “refused.” Gamble disputes these records, stating, “I did not refuse any of those appointments.”

“DOC has failed to abide by its obligation, and the crisis of inaccessible health care in its jails continues unabated,” said the motion in its preliminary statement. “As a result, incarcerated people continue to miss thousands of health care appointments every month, delaying or outright denying their care.”

The groups are now asking the court to fine the DOC $250 for each missed appointment due to operational failures and to appoint a monitor to ensure compliance with court orders.