Could solitary confinement on Rikers Island be laid to rest?
FILE - In this May 23, 1935 file photo, solitary confinement cells are shown at Rikers Island prison in New York. New York City officials have unveiled reforms they claim add up to a groundbreaking ban on solitary confinement on Rikers Island. As a teenager, Browder spent two years in solitary confinement at Rikers Island โ and three years in in jail overall โ when he couldn't make bail on a charge that he stole a backpack. The mayor called Browderโs death the โoriginal sinโ fueling a reform movement that had previously resulted in a ban on solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates who broke jailhouse rules. That move followed a scathing Department of Justice report that found teenage inmates were too often placed in solitary confinement and beaten by jail guards.