Overview
- Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ruled that Mayor Eric Adams unlawfully used emergency powers to stall Local Law 42 and ordered all existing orders vacated.
- Local Law 42, passed in December 2023 and upheld by the City Council’s veto override in January 2024, now takes effect by reinstating strict limits on solitary confinement.
- Adams first invoked Emergency Executive Order 624 in July 2024, citing public safety concerns to suspend the law’s restrictions on restrictive housing and restraints.
- The City Council’s December Article 78 lawsuit argued the mayor’s repeated five-day extensions of his emergency orders bypassed the democratic veto‐override process.
- The Adams administration is reviewing its legal options, and the city remains under federal monitor oversight for jail safety and oversight concerns.