Constantly in the news for its inhumane conditions, New York’s Rikers Island jail has been exposed yet again. According to reports, incarcerated leaders ordered their neighbors to beat each other in a cell with an audience, until given permission to stop. It’s a literal fight club!
One anonymous person, nicknamed “Relator G,” was given food and cigarettes as a reward for fighting. He also testified that guards even helped them hide the fights from other staff and the cameras!
New York City Judge April Newbauer ordered Relator G’s release on December 22, 2021, citing the jail’s conditions as “entirely foreseeable” and the Department of Corrections’ “deliberate indifference.” Astonishingly, Relator G actually isn’t the first to suffer from underground fights at Rikers.
In 2008, 18-year-old Christopher Robinson was brutally beaten when “correction officers essentially deputized gang members” to run a similar fight club. Robinson died.
Still, the Department of Corrections disapproved of Newbauer’s decision, wary that other people incarcerated at Rikers might argue for their release, too. But shouldn’t they?
It's impossible to believe the prison system can be reformed into something humane when the truth is looking us right in the face. How many fight clubs are being run around the nation? We can't just stop at releasing one or two people to escape the violence – they all need to be free.