Rikers Island Inmates Costing NYC Millions in Lawsuits
By Gerri Willis, Fox Business
Here at The Willis Report, we bring you the stories of government abuse of our taxpayer dollars everyday, and today, we’ve got a doozy.
They say crime pays, and boy does it! Inmates held at Rikers Island here in New York, are suing the city for injuries they say they received in jail. Some say they slipped on soap in the shower, while others say beds that were too short injured them. I kid you not.
One inmate, Zaie Escribano, has been locked up on Rikers since 2009 for firing on two NYPD cops. He says a stopped-up drain in the shower caused him to fall, and says the city is at fault for not putting down rubber mats or orange hazard cones.
People familiar with the suits say a network of prisoners share names of lawyers, and even put attorney contact info near jail pay phones.
So far, the city has paid out $111.1 million- payments of $2,000 to make the suits go away.
The Department of Corrections has been sued 8,500 times between 2007 and 2011. It’s not clear how many of those suits were filed by inmates, but more and more seem to be filed every year.
Take a look at these numbers:
CLICK HERE to read the rest of this story on Gerri’s blog!
