A federal judge took the extraordinary step of stripping the city of its control over Rikers Island, ruling that City Hall could no longer be trusted to tamp down the violence that has plagued the dangerous jail complex for decades.

A federal court in New York ruled that Rikers Island will be placed under the control of an independent receiver. In the underlying lawsuit, the court has determined the conditions of the jail “fall below the constitutional minimum” and it has previously ruled: “that the level of unconstitutional danger has not improved for the people who live and work in the jails is both alarming and unacceptable.

Four years after NYC Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal pushed for doula care in jails, the Rikers Island Doula Program is in full effect, giving pregnant inmates support and a voice behind bars.