Jason ECHEVARRIA VS. NEW YORK
Rikers Islands Prison
History of Rikers Islands
For a time, pigs were raised for slaughter there. Not long afterward, the island conveniently but remotely located in the East River between the Bronx and Queens, not 300 feet from where La Guardia’s runways now sit was converted to a partial landfill, full of horse manure and garbage. The odor repelled its neighbors in the boroughs, and the refuse attracted a sizable rat population, which the city tried to contain by releasing wild dogs. Instead, the dogs attacked and killed some of the pigs. It took poison gas to kill off the rodents. Next the city moved humans to Rikers. The first jail on the island opened in 1935, meant to supplement and eventually replace the unimprovable disaster that was the Blackwell’s Island. But Rikers never had a pristine moment, even at the start. Before the facility opened, inspectors warned of health hazards occasioned by, among other things, “dump fires,” and the problems that had plagued Blackwell’s drug use, corrupt correction officers, violence, squalor, gang consolidation moved upriver almost immediately, and have stubbornly stayed ever since. Today, there are ten jails in total on Rikers, vast parking lots, infirmaries, a power plant, and a barge to combat overcrowding — a persistent difficulty in a facility that holds, on average, more than 9,700 prisoners and sometimes has to squeeze in more than 15,000.
History of inmate
Jason Echevarria was an 25 year old inmate at Rikers Island jail complex. Echevarria was an mental inmate and was housed in a mental pod. Jason died after hours of suffering from swolling a toxic soap ball. An prison security guard allowed him to die, because he did not seek any medical attention for him. The family of Jason Echevarria have filed several lawsuits against the prison and won.
Map of the Jail complex
Jason Echevarria
Cell at Rickers Island
Inmate Case Points
- Inmate was mentally unstable
- Guard didn't Seak any medical assistance
- Mentally unstable inmate deaths prior to this one
- Medical attention was available if called
- Inmate was neglected
Courts rulling
The security guard was sentenced to 5 years in prison for neglecting to seek medical assistance. The court also paid the family 5 million dollars for the negligence of the officer. They have began to make reforms to the staff at the jail to prevent situations like this from happening.