Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Stanley Richards

Stanley Richards

  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Correction Reform at a Crossroads

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    Stanley Richards with Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    July 15, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Correction Reform at a Crossroads

    Stanley Richards of The Fortune Society joined the show to discuss the status of correction reform, particularly with regard to solitary confinement and much more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMaxand @JarrettMurphy. You can

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  • I’ve Seen It First-Hand Over Decades and Know: Rikers Cannot Be Redeemed

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    On Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    The narrow bridge to Rikers Island still puts a knot in my stomach. In the late 1980s, I spent two years behind bars in one of the eight active jails on Rikers. Back then, crossing that bridge meant disappearing from society and entering a world defined by violence and inhumanity.

    Little has changed. These days, I visit Rikers regularly as vice chair of the Board of Correction, the independent oversight body for New York City jails, and as executive vice president of the Fortune Society, an

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  • Key Question in Closing Rikers: How to Design Replacement Jails

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    Jail space rendering via "Justice in Design"


    The first part of the plan is clear: the jails on Rikers Island will be closed. Less

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