New York City’s Rikers jail complex is gripped by a crisis of legitimacy. Following a series of investigations, it has been denounced as a major symbol of criminal justice dysfunction, with calls for its closure and replacement with new smaller “state of the art” jails. Yet, when it opened, Rikers was hailed as a “model” facility, at the cutting edge of prison design and prisoner rehabilitation. To elucidate the present situation, we provide a focus on the under-explored history of New York City’s penal institutions.

中文翻译：

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赖克斯岛：“模范”监狱的失败

纽约市的 Rikers 监狱大楼正面临合法性危机。经过一系列调查，它被谴责为刑事司法功能障碍的主要象征，并呼吁关闭它并用新的较小的“最先进”监狱取而代之。然而，当它开业时，Rikers 被誉为监狱设计和囚犯改造最前沿的“模范”设施。为了阐明目前的情况，我们将重点放在纽约市刑罚机构未被充分探索的历史上。