Rikers Island, the complex of ten jails on a 400-acre island in the East River, has been called “a stain on our great city,” and a “19th century solution to a 21st century problem.” The closing of Rikers, in favor of a network of borough-based jails, is now official policy of New York City, with the potential to dramatically reshape New York’s justice system.
Open House New York invites you to a screening of excerpts from the documentary Rikers: An American Jail, an award-winning film by Bill Moyers that lets the men and women who have experienced Rikers tell their stories. The presentation will also include an excerpt from The Marshall Project’s We Are Witnesses. Interspersed with the excerpts will be discussion by invited guests, including Barry Campbell, Special Assistant, The Fortune Society; Jill Harris, Policy and Strategy Counsel, Kings County District Attorney; Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of Criminal Practice, The Legal Aid Society; Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prisons Program, National Religious Campaign Against Torture; and moderated by Matthew Watkins, Senior Writer, and host of the New Thinking podcast, for the Center for Court Innovation.