In a 77-page decision, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said she would select a "remediation manager," reporting directly to her, who would enjoy broad powers to reform Rikers, including authority to revise the jails' rules, hire staff and take disciplinary actions against employees who violate policies on the use of force.

A federal judge on Tuesday seized control of New York City's notorious jail complex on Rikers Island, which will now be run by an official who reports directly to the court. In a 77-page ruling, Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote that she found the conduct of the city over the last nine years "leaves no doubt that continued insistence on compliance with the court's orders by persons answerable principally to political authorities would lead only to confrontation and delay.