New York, NY--On Thursday, August 21st, 2014, the New York City Council voted to pass a bill requiring the NYC Department of Corrections to track and report statistics related to the use of solitary confinement at Riker's Island. This comes on the heels of weeks of alarming reports about mistreatment of inmates at Riker's and the attention the damaging psychological effects of solitary confinement has received. The bill will trace 42 statistics related to the use of solitary confinement, including the age and race of the inmates put in solitary, whether they have mental illness, how much recreation time they receive as well as a host of other categories.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez had this to say regarding the passage of this bill:

"What makes this job so great is that every so often, you have an opportunity to vote on major legislation that can fundamentally change the lives of people suffering. This was true of the Community Safety Act last year; of Paid Sick Days; and I believe that this Solitary Confinement reporting bill is of that caliber. Solitary confinement is a brutal punishment, the abuse of which at Riker's Island has been well documented. These past weeks have demonstrated to our city the alarmingly deplorable conditions faced by our inmates, many of whom suffer from mental illness, while many others have not yet been convicted of a crime. We as a city have failed to uphold basic human rights-such as the right to expedient medical care or the freedom from perpetual violence-in our main prison, which has allowed a culture of violence to take hold. With today's vote, we hope to change the course of inmate treatment at Riker's, curb the use of solitary confinement and signal our focus on these issues to ensure the discrepancies of the past do not become the tragedies of the future."

Spanish:

"Lo que hace que este trabajo sea t�n importante, es que con mucha frecuencia, usted tiene la oportunidad de votar por una  legislaci�n de importancia, la cual puede cambiar de manera fundamental las vidas de gente que est� sufriendo. Esto result� ser verdadero  sobre el Acta de Seguridad Comunitaria el pasado a�o; de D�as Por Enfermedad Pagados:  y creo que este proyecto de ley  de Confinamiento Solitario tiene ese calibre. El R�gimen de Confinamiento Solitario es un castigo brutal, el abuso  que  ha sido bien documentado en Riker's Island.  Estas �ltimas semanas han demostrado a nuestra ciudad las condiciones  alarmantemente deplorables que enfrentan nuestros presos, muchos de los cuales sufren de enfermedades mentales, mientras que muchos otros a�n no han sido condenados por alg� delito. Nosotros como ciudad,  hemos fallado en defender los derechos humanos b�sicos-tales como el derecho a la atenci�n m�dica apropiada o la libertad de la  violencia perpetua -en nuestra prisi�n principal, lo que ha permitido el afianzamiento de una cultura de violencia. Con la votaci�n de hoy, esperamos cambiar el curso del tratamiento a los presidiarios en Riker's, frenar el uso del confinamiento solitario y orientar nuestro enfoque hacia estos temas  para garantizar que las discrepancias del pasado, no se conviertan en las tragedias del futuro".