Podcast: The road to Rikers reform

The fate of Rikers Island has confounded New York City and state politicians for decades. The overcrowded and often violent corrections facility has become a symbol of the gross injustices that permeate the U.S. criminal justice system.

Neil Barsky, founder and chairman of the Marshall Project, and Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, joined Gerson Borrero and me on this week’s Slant Podcast to examine the feasibility, motives and politics around the movement to close Rikers Island.

The Rikers-related topics we sift through include whether the reforms instituted last summer by Mayor Bill de Blasio are taking hold; the political triangulation between de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on this issue; and Neil and Donna give their take on what their ideal Rikers reform policies would look like.

Later, Gerson gives us his weekly “Bochinche & Buzz,” with an interesting scoop on a national progressive leader’s under-the-radar visit to New York City, and what this might mean for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

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