Cockroaches, rotting food and garbage: Lawmakers say Rikers Island jail conditions are a "public health issue"
CBSN
New York State lawmakers are calling for greater criminal justice reform amid "an absolute humanitarian crisis" at Rikers Island jail complex. The ten facilities situated in the East River near New York City are scheduled to close by 2027, putting an end to some of its longstanding issues of violence and neglect.
"The place is in a state of emergency, and we need to act now," New York State Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas told CBS News' Lana Zak. "We must work to decarcerate."
While touring the island's facilities, González-Rojas said she saw garbage spewed across the floor, cockroaches and rotting food. She said inmates were piled on top of one another, and some had no access to showers or clothing. She added that she stepped over urine and even witnessed a suicide attempt at the jail.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.