Judge directs NYC to develop plan for possible federal takeover of Rikers Island jail

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday directed New York City officials to begin developing a plan for a possible federal takeover of Rikers Island, following a hearing in Manhattan in a long-running case over abuse, mismanagement and other chronic problems at one of the nation’s largest and most notorious jails.

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain stopped short of issuing a formal order handing the jail system over to federal authorities, but she said city officials should meet in the coming days with federal officials and inmate advocates to sketch out a potential path forward.

She instructed them to develop by Nov. 12 a "leadership reform plan” that would address, among other things, the parameters for appointing an independent receiver, including the powers, responsibilities and qualifications of such an outside overseer for the city jails.

Swain said she would also rule before then on whether to hold the city in contempt of long-standing court orders mandating reforms at Rikers, which houses more than 6,000 inmates on an island in the East River in the Bronx.