Prisoners' Rights Project Evaluates Rikers Island Reforms

— -- When New York City settled a class-action lawsuit over abuses at Rikers Island, officials agreed to implement reforms that would, in the words of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, “fix a broken system and dismantle a decades-long culture of violence.”

That was June 2015. As the first anniversary approaches of the settlement approaches, Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte says the reforms are working. He points to a 50 percent decrease in incidents that cause serious injury to inmates, 41 percent fewer assaults on staff causing serious injury, and a 70 percent reduction in the number of inmates in punitive segregation.

But prosecutors and lawyers who were involved with the original lawsuit, Nunez v. City of New York, are watching closely to see if Ponte will be able to change Rikers' longstanding culture of violence and abuse. ABC News sat down with Mary Lynne Werlwas, head of the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project, to get her perspective on how Rikers is doing one year after the consent decree.

Watch the video of her response below:

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Prisoners' Rights Project Report Card of Rikers

Mary Lynne Werlwas, head of the Legal Aid Society's Prisoners' Rights Project, offers her perspective on how Rikers is doing.

Watch the full episode of “Hidden America: Inside Rikers Island,” a Diane Sawyer Special Edition of "Nightline," HERE and now on all ABC News devices, including Apple TV, Roku and Xbox One.