- Experts say the judge in Mr. Trump’s hush money trial in New York could hold him in a cell near the courtroom or, much less likely, in a cell on Rikers Island.
- President Trump said defending himself in the case and fighting the First Amendment gag order was worth the “sacrifice” of potentially going to jail.
On Monday, former President Donald Trump was threatened with prison time if he continues to violate the gag order in his hush money trial in New York, and on Tuesday, Judge Juan Machan punished him again for witness intimidation — this time. He was accused of tweeting insults about porn star Stormy Daniels. He testified.
But if warnings and $1,000 fines for each violation — Trump has imposed 10 of them so far — continue to prove too weak a deterrent for the billionaire. Where will Mr. Trump actually be imprisoned?
The answer can make a big difference in how unpleasant the experience is. Experts say the world’s most high-profile detainees could be held for short periods in solitary confinement near the courtroom or for days at the notorious Rikers Island prison.
Veteran New York City defense attorney Ronald Kuby, who has visited clients in city jails and has spent time behind bars for various protests, said he doubted Trump would enjoy any detention. He said it was low. The holding room is small with a large sliding door.
But Rikers Island, known for its violence and unsanitary conditions, may be even worse.
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“It’s a terrible experience,” Kuby told USA TODAY. “Trust me. I’ve been there.”
It is unlikely that Trump will go to Rikers, but even the more likely scenario of a brief stay in a courthouse cell would be unique and unprecedented. Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges and could be the first to be jailed if he is found guilty of contempt again. Like all former presidents, he is protected by the Secret Service, which poses many logistical challenges.
“It’s uncharted territory, uncharted territory away from existing maps,” says James Olson, associate professor of criminology at the University of Auckland’s School of Social Sciences and former staff member of the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. .
Trump could be jailed for contempt for violating gag order
Judge Marchan warned President Trump on Monday that if his orders not to allow potential witnesses or talk about jurors in the case don’t work, his next violation could lead to prison time.
“Mr. Trump, it’s important that you understand that the last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Marchan said. “Your continued violation of the legal orders of this court threatens to obstruct the administration of justice with constant attacks that constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.”
President Trump told reporters on Monday that he may be willing to go to jail for continuing to make comments calling his former lawyer Michael Cohen a “disgraceful lawyer and felon.” Ta.
“Frankly, our Constitution is far more important than prisons,” Trump said, arguing that his right to free speech was being violated. “It’s not even close. I’m willing to make that sacrifice any day.”
Authorities prepare for “all contingencies” if judge jails Trump
Authorities have been tight-lipped about the details of how President Trump would be detained if he were to be detained.
“From the beginning of these proceedings, our court system’s public safety officials have worked with our law enforcement partners to prepare for possible contingencies,” Al Baker, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, said in a statement. Ta. .
“If he ends up in our custody, the department will find suitable housing for him,” Department of Corrections spokesman Patrick Rocchio said in a statement.
Anthony Guglielmi, director of public affairs for the Secret Service, said President Trump’s status as a protected former president means that whatever happens, whether long-term or temporary, the Secret Service will have an important role to play. He said that he would accomplish this.
Guglielmi said the Secret Service’s New York field office is already working with Trump’s security team and “working very closely” with New York City police and court officials to ensure all aspects of Trump’s court appearance. He says he is making plans. And he said they have contingency plans in place for any type of insult scenario that occurs.
“We study every situation and location around the world and develop a comprehensive, layered protection model that incorporates cutting-edge technology, protection intelligence, and advanced security tactics to protect those we protect. ,” Guglielmi said. “Beyond that, we will not comment further on specific protection activities.”
Guglielmi said it’s not just where Trump will stay, but more important is the contingency plan for a possible contempt order or jail time against Trump.
For example, Secret Service agents would need to monitor everyone and everything that may come into contact with Trump, including staff at any facility and even the food served to him.
“All of these steps are very carefully choreographed and meticulously planned,” Guglielmi said. “We are looking at every option that may be available to us and trying to be prepared for just about anything that may come up.”
Options range from courthouse cells to Rikers Island
The Secret Service has been working with the court system and local police to coordinate Mr. Trump’s security during his trial. The maximum penalty for each contempt violation is a $1,000 fine and his 30 days in jail.
At the higher end of the scale, Mr. Trump could be held for an hour or two in a cell behind Marchand’s courtroom on the 15th floor of a lower Manhattan courthouse, or for several days in a prison cell at a federal prison or Rikers Island. there is a possibility.
Criminology professor Olson said putting President Trump in solitary confinement for an hour may be less effective than a fine, but the “theater of sanctioned prison sentences” at Rikers Island could reduce reputation and stigma. Therefore, it may function as a greater deterrent. He said he was particular about it.
“It puts us in a strange world,” Olson said of the possibility of locking up the former president.
The cells adjacent to the courtroom can hold two or three people, but are claustrophobic, with at most one small window and a large metal door that “closes with a loud bang,” Kuby said. Told.
“They are intended for short-term residence,” Kuby said. “They have toilets. They have benches. That’s it.”
If ordered to be held overnight in court, Trump could be held in “a veritable rabbit hole of specific detention cells in various courtrooms,” including several larger detention areas. Kuby said.
For long-term stays, the longtime central Manhattan reservation complex known as The Tombs has closed, so it’s not an option. But Trump could be ordered to be held at the Capitol Correctional Center in Manhattan, where Jeffrey Epstein died., Or the federal lockdown of Brooklyn.
The least likely scenario, Kuby said, is Rikers on the East River in the Bronx. The city’s largest prison has space to house VIP detainees with a Secret Service entourage, but Kuby said that could be scary for someone as clean-cut as President Trump.
“This is such a huge, vast, huge, collapsing horror complex that there’s always room for someone to get trapped,” Kuby said.
Trump is also likely to avoid meals at Rikers, which are “by all accounts excruciatingly bad and unevenly prepared and served,” Kuby added.
Any detention would likely put him at a disadvantage compared to the White House or Mar-a-Lago.
“Trump is not going to be with the other prisoners. He’s definitely not going to have regular meal service. But he’s in prison and he can’t get out,” Kuby said. Told. “Whether the toilet paper is up to par or whether the food is good or bad has nothing to do with the fact that you are isolated from everything you know and confined to a small space with a barred door. It’s irrelevant. And love.”
Rikers Island ‘dangerous and unsafe’: federal court monitor
Rikers Island has 10 detention facilities scheduled to close in 2027, but delays in building replacement facilities could delay that goal. During that time, there have been many critical reports of unsanitary and dangerous conditions.
At least 31 people have died in custody since January 2022, with people being held in crowded and dangerous conditions or without access to medical care, according to advocacy groups that monitor violence.
“This is a stain on our city,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda, a group of former inmates who are calling for Rikers Island to be closed. “The average person’s experience is one of pre-trial punishment and suffering and basically a game of Russian roulette.”
Mack, 49, spent 19 months in a youth facility called the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island in the early 1990s after being arrested as an accomplice in a robbery.
During Mack’s stay, a boy in an adjacent cell attempted to hang himself, and guards slashed and then beat the inmate, Mack said. Another cell surrounded by plexiglass had inmates with mental health issues kicking at the walls and being smeared with feces throughout the night, Mack said. The collapsed walls allowed prisoners to make weapons from metal and fiberglass through the windows.
“I think Rikers Island has been plagued by violence for decades,” Mack said.
Mack said she returned several years ago as an advocate before the pandemic and was shocked to see a sign warning visitors not to drink the water.
“Rikers Island should have been closed yesterday,” Mack said. “Unfortunately, many more people will suffer and die until it is closed.”
Federal monitors reported in October 2023 that 91 detainees were stabbed or slashed in August and September 2023, and 31 staff members were suspended for unlawful use of force in July and August 2023. It was announced that he had been fired.
“This is a very dangerous place in terms of violence and the care that people receive from corrections officers,” said Julian Harris Calvin, program director at the Vera Institute for Justice, which works to end mass incarceration. . . “No one would keep their pet, let alone another human being, in these conditions.”
Physical conditions are also dire, federal monitors and advocates say. Old buildings are falling down. Photos of the crowded facility show people sleeping on the floor next to a toilet shared by 10 men.
During another federal surveillance inspection, visitors found unsanitary conditions including live cockroaches, ants, giant bugs, fruit flies, gnats and rat droppings. Detainees find vermin such as cockroaches and rat body parts in their food.
“It’s an incredibly unsanitary situation,” Harris-Calvin said. “It’s pretty bad.”
Trump could join former staffer Allen Weisselberg at Rikers Island
Experts said Trump could be held at the West facility, which has separate cells for detainees. The West Facility, which opened in 1991, is designated for inmates with communicable diseases, but also houses other inmates who are sick.
Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, was jailed at Rikers Island West for five months on perjury charges for lying during Trump’s civil fraud trial. Mr. Weisselberg’s release date is July 19. He previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges related to undeclared profits from his work at the Trump Organization and served 100 days at Rikers Island.
