Martin said Richards \u2014 who was appointed to lead the city\u2019s jails by Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u00a0 \u2014 ordered staff not to communicate ideas or strategies to the monitor or to the Rikers Island remediation manager without first briefing the commissioner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Commissioner wants all meetings with the Remediation Manager (RM) and Monitor Teams to be documented,\u201d Richards\u2019 chief of staff, America Canas, wrote to top leadership in an email on Sept. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPlease instruct your teams to send minutes of all interactions \/ conversations with the Monitor or RM,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Martin, the Texas-based monitor, said his team only heard about the emailed directive through an anonymous source.\u00a0<\/p>\n Martin was appointed by Swain in 2015 following a class action lawsuit brought by the Legal Aid Society alleging years of abuses by officers against juvenile detainees, known as the Nunez case. He issued several reports each year detailing his reform efforts \u2014 even as violence worsened in the city\u2019s jails \u2014 leading advocates and criminal justice experts to call for the appointment of a so-called receiver who would have more power over the department to enact much-needed changes. That led to the appointment in January of Nicholas Deml<\/a>, a former CIA officer and Vermont corrections commissioner, as the Rikers Island \u201cremediation manager.\u201d<\/p>\n In his letter to the judge, Martin agreed that there\u2019s a need to track the work being done to reform the department but he added that, if implemented, the new rules would discourage private conversations flagging routine issues and drastically delay a basic exchange of information.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE: \u2018Bedlam\u2019 as Rikers Island Can\u2019t Keep Its Doors Locked<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe directive would also effectively eliminate DOC personnel\u2019s ability to have confidential discussions\u201d with oversight officials, Martin added in his five-page letter to Judge Swain.\u00a0<\/p>\n He called Richards\u2019 move \u201can affirmative directive from department leadership that, if followed, would impede compliance with the court\u2019s orders and materially interfere with the (monitoring team\u2019s) and (remediation manager team\u2019s) ability to perform their court-ordered responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin ordered the department to rescind the directive to document communication with his team and the remediation manager. Martin also instructed Corrections to issue clear guidance to staff that they are allowed to talk openly about issues they are facing and other matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the event that the City or Department fail to act or adhere to the directions set forth herein, the Remediation Manager or Monitor will immediately inform the court,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Mayor Mamdani said the administration was tackling Martin\u2019s issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mamdani administration is committed to working closely and collaboratively with the Remediation Manager and federal Monitor to make our city\u2019s jails safer and ensure they are operating as they should,\u201d spokesperson Sam Raskin said in a statement. \u201cThat means keeping lines of communication open, sharing information transparently and taking the steps required to deliver the reforms mandated by the Nunez court orders.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the mayor has \u201ccomplete confidence\u201d in Commissioner Richards.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE: Rikers Misses Deadline to Give Detainees Digital Access to Case Evidence<\/a><\/p>\n At stake are potentially groundbreaking changes to a jail system with a tragic history of violence, medical neglect and death. In July, remediation manager Deml unveiled his highly-anticipated blueprint for overhauling<\/a> the system. The plan calls for hiring new investigators to police corrections officer misconduct, a $50 million expansion of educational and other programs for detainees and a pilot revamp of solitary confinement.<\/p>\n Notably, Martin also questioned the ability of most of the department\u2019s leadership<\/a> to enact those major changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRecent actions by high-ranking DOC leadership raise questions about their judgment and approach to management\u2026resulting in significant distraction and inefficiencies to advancing the reform effort,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n The letter to the judge specifically called out the First Deputy Commissioner, Margaret (Meg) Egan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is particularly disappointing,\u201d Martin said, noting Egan and RIchards had previously served as members of the Board of Correction \u201cand should understand the need for the very requirements\u201d imposed under a 2011 federal lawsuit alleging serious abuses by officers against detainees.<\/p>\n The serious pushback from Martin comes less than two years after the court found the city in contempt over its handling of the federal reform orders governing the jail system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just months ago, Martin indicated he was excited about working with a new mayoral administration more willing to enact long stalled reforms. Former Mayor Eric Adams vehemently opposed the appointment of a remediation manager and urged jail officials to bring back the use of solitary\u00a0 \u2014 a punishment deemed torture by the United Nations and others \u2014 for detainees who act out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Conversely, Richards, who was held as a detainee on Rikers Island<\/a> in the late 1980s, spent years advocating for the appointment of a remediation manager to oversee reforms. He previously headed the Fortune Society<\/a>, the city\u2019s largest nonprofit serving formerly incarcerated people, and served as a member of the Board of Correction, the DOC\u2019s primary oversight body.<\/p>\n![\"Department](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/043026_juvenile_justice_panel.jpg\")
Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards speaks on a juvenile justice panel in Brooklyn, April 30, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nicholas_deml_crop.jpg\")
Former Vermont Department of Corrections Commissioner Nicholas Deml serves as the court-appointed Rikers Island remediation manager. Credit: Via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n