Woke language overhaul would strip the word 'inmate' from New York City's entire jail rulebook

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sparking online backlash for going to Rikers Island to watch the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina with prisoners. (Credit: Associated Press - July 15) The New York City Board of Correction is moving to scrub the word "inmate" from its jail regulations, replacing it with "person in custody" as part of a years-long effort rooted in the belief that incarceration should not define a person. The latest proposal builds on a 2021 initiative that began removing the term "inmate" from the board's Minimum Standards after officials concluded people should not be defined by their incarceration. "People in DOC custody are people first and the circumstance of their incarceration is not their defining feature," the board wrote in 2021. "Therefore, the Board has made a commitment to employ person-fi