After years of violence and dysfunction, continually violating court orders demanding reform and change, a federal judge is holding the city and the Department of Correction in contempt.

The highly anticipated decision puts the troubled jail complex on the pathway toward a federally appointed receiver to take over some, or all, operations of the department.

In her decision, the judge, Laura Taylor Swain, said “Nine years have passed since the parties first agreed that the perilous conditions in the Rikers Island jails were unconstitutional; that the level of unconstitutional danger has not improved for the people who live and work in the jails is both alarming and unacceptable.”

Swain is ordering the parties to come up with what a receivership might look like. Those court papers are due in January.

“The plaintiffs are thankful for this decision on the eve of Thanksgiving,” said Debra Greenberger, an attorney for the plaintiffs from Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel. “We’re hoping this is a sign of hope for all the people in custody and their families that there can finally be change in Rikers Island and the city jails.”

Lawyers for Rikers Island detainees who have been arguing this case for many years were hopeful the decision would mean real reform for Rikers.

“What comes next is the plaintiffs, and the southern district’s U.S. Attorney’s office, have both asked the court to appoint a receiver which would be an independent entity answerable to the federal court, who is independent of the political system in New York to take over Rikers and the other city jails, to finally make the change that we have known for so long is needed,” Greenberger said.

It’s unclear what type of reform or remedy the judge may approve.

In her decision, Swain wrote: “Defendants have consistently fallen short of the requisite compliance with court orders for years, at times under circumstances that suggest bad faith; and that enormous resources — that the city devotes to a system that is at the same time over-staffed and underserved — are not being deployed effectively. For those reasons, the court is inclined to impose a receivership: namely, a remedy that will make the management of the use of force and safety aspects of the Rikers Island jails ultimately answerable directly to the court.”

The city is pushing back. In a statement, the mayor’s press secretary said the new correction commissioner has made some progress on Rikers.

“We are proud of our work, but recognize there is more to be done and look forward to working with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails,” Kayla Mamelak Altus said.

The decision to appoint a receiver would undoubtedly impact not just the detainees, but the officers on the ground within the city jails. The head of their union opposes the idea.

“Outsourcing control of Rikers Island to a federal receiver will not be a silver bullet and will not solve any of these problems. Giving Correction Officers the manpower and resources to enforce law and order in our jails will,” Benny Boscio from the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association said in a statement.