The Rikers Island bus drivers who refused to transport inmates last week ostensibly did so out of concerns over the road-worthiness of their vehicles. But in a lawsuit filed Monday against the correction officers’ union, the city alleged what the New York Times reported: that the drivers staged the slowdown to prevent one inmate in particular from testifying against two guards accused of beating him. According to the suit, that slowdown may have had some dire consequences, as 49 prisoners missed medical appointments, several for chemotherapy, which “may lead to serious morbidity for some of these prisoners.” But if the goal of the slowdown really was to prevent the inmate to testify, then it worked. He missed his court date, the Times reports. Of course, that can be rescheduled without the same kind of complications a missed chemo appointment carries.
