Tuesday, August 3: Rally to End Solitary Confinement in NYC


Please join a Rally & Press Conference this Tues., Aug. 3, 11 am to End Solitary in NYC

Please join a rally and press conference this Tuesday, August 3, at 11 am outside of City Hall at the Broadway entrance (on Broadway at Murray). NYC's current plan will perpetuate solitary by another name and violate the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. We will be urging the New York City Council to truly end solitary confinement as promised. Council Member Dromm, Senator Salazar, and other state and local legislators will be joining leaders of the #HALTsolitary Campaign and Jails Action Coalition and other community members. Will you join us?

Spread the word by amplifying this tweet and sharing this flyer.

Keep Using Phone to Action Tool to Email, Tweet, & Call City Council Speaker Corey Johnson!

Please continue to use this Phone to Action Tool to Email, Tweet, & Call New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to urge him and the city council to truly end solitary confinement in New York City: bit.ly/EndSolitaryP2A. And please urge at least five other people to do the same!

You and others can also reach this tool by texting HALT to 52886. (In other words, send a text message to the number 52886 with HALT as the body of the message).

If you're having trouble using the phone to action tool, please continue to use the below samples to call Speaker Johnson at 212-788-7210, email Speaker Johnson at SpeakerJohnson@council.nyc.gov, and use this social media guide.

SAMPLE CALL SCRIPT

Call NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson: 212-788-7210:

Hi, I’m calling to urge you and the City Council to pass legislation now to truly end solitary confinement in New York City. Despite claiming to end solitary confinement, the Department of Correction will continue to lock people alone in a cell 23 hours a day. This is solitary confinement. It is torture. It must end. You have strongly and repeatedly called for a true end to solitary. Will you step in now to truly end solitary confinement in New York City?

SAMPLE EMAIL

Email Speaker Johnson at SpeakerJohnson@council.nyc.gov

Dear Speaker Johnson, I’m writing to urge you and the City Council to pass legislation now to truly end solitary confinement in New York City. The Mayor and Board of Correction have broken their promise. Despite claiming to end solitary confinement, the Department of Correction will continue to lock people alone in a cell 23 hours a day. This is solitary confinement. It is torture. It must end. Truly ending solitary means all people in city jails must have access to at least 14 hours of actual out of cell time per day in group settings and spaces conducive for regular and meaningful human interaction, including access to at least seven hours of congregate programming and activities. You - as speaker - have advocated for such a plan and strongly and repeatedly called for a true end to solitary confinement. Will you step in now to truly end solitary confinement in New York City? Sincerely,

SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POST

You have championed an end to solitary confinement @NYCSpeakerCoJo. You prophetically warned against fake solitary bans & urged people be out-of-cell 14 hrs/day, with 7 hrs of group programming. We need your leadership to truly end solitary. https://bit.ly/SpeakerEndSolitary

New Report Finds #HALTsolitary Act Will Save $132 Million a Year


Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) has released a critical new report, “Save Money, Save Lives,” finding that enacting the HALT Solitary Confinement Act would save the state $132 million annually. While the #HALTsolitary Campaign has always fought for an end to the torture of solitary confinement in prisons and jails as a matter of human rights and racial justice, the cost savings are just one more reason to pass the bill immediately. We are extremely grateful for PPG’s diligent work as a longtime partner to the campaign. Read about it in the Albany Times-Union.

Key Facts About the Torture of Solitary Confinement in New York

5 Steps To Ending Solitary Confinement in NYC

#HALTsolitary Statement on NYC Mayor’s Commitment to Ending Solitary

"On June 29, 2020, the Mayor claimed that New York City Department of Correction (DOC) will immediately end the use of solitary confinement for those with underlying medical conditions. Yet the City jail oversight body, the Board of Correction, already prohibits DOC from placing people with serious physical disabilities or conditions in solitary confinement, so THIS 'REFORM' IS WHAT DOC SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALREADY. He also said that the Board of Correction is forming a working group to find a path for eliminating solitary confinement.

While we welcome Mayor de Blasio acknowledging the need to end solitary confinement in New York City jails, we are concerned that A WORKING GROUP IS UNNECESSARY AND A DELAY TACTIC. The Mayor has the power to eliminate this torture immediately and the community provided him with a detailed plan for doing so last October. We are also concerned that, of the four members appointed by the Mayor to this working group, one is COBA, which has been fighting any limitations on the use of solitary confinement for years. Another member is the DOC Commissioner, who has long had the power to eliminate solitary and has failed to do so, and THE DEPARTMENT EVEN FALSELY CLAIMED EARLIER THIS MONTH THAT THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE SOLITARY. The Board of Correction on its own should be moving forward with its rulemaking and should vote on rules to fully eliminate solitary confinement at its upcoming July 14 Board meeting.

Decades of research show that SOLITARY IS INEFFECTIVE, DANGEROUS, AND, TOO OFTEN, DEADLY.

LAYLEEN POLANCO died in solitary over one year ago. KALIEF BROWDER died because of solitary confinement over five years ago. BRADLEY BALLARD died in solitary confinement nearly seven years ago. JASON ECHEVERRIA died in solitary confinement nearly eight years ago. CARINA MONTES died in solitary over 17 years ago. Eliminate this practice now."

Read the #HALTsolitary Campaign's Full Response to Mayor DeBlasio Here

“Time in Solitary” by A.J.L.

Time In Solitary
Doors slam.
Here we go again!
Sounds of banging and voiceless cries
Hours stretch into endless nights, endless nights into hours months and years
Will I see my Mom?
She loves me beyond
Will I die ..never to know life again?
Alive but...dead
Feel like living death
Should I try suicide?
Or.. should I survive???
Why oh why???


THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ME: Suicide and Self-Harm in New York’s Solitary Confinement Units, 2015-2019


Read THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ME, a devastating new report from the #HALTsolitary campaign exposing surging rates of suicide and self-harm in NYS prisons, with solitary confinement as a primary driver. Last year New York's prisons had the highest rate of suicide in two decades. This rate was nearly DOUBLE the national average. During the 5-year study period, there was a suicide attempt in New York State prisons nearly every other day. Governor Cuomo has only made this crisis worse by INCREASING the use of solitary confinement.

WATCH our May 6 Statewide Day of Action to #HALTsolitary!

Watch a recording of our MAY 6 Statewide Day of Action to #HALTsolitary by clicking below! Watch activists gather and speak out on Zoom, in person and in cars demanding that the legislature reconvene and pass the HALT Solitary Confinement bill immediately.

Right now NY State is using solitary confinement more than ever and are torturing incarcerated folks who complain of COVID-19 symptoms, attempt to wear a mask, or speak to the public about DOCCS' lack of care for their health and safety.



Sign the petition to support the HALT Solitary Confinement Act: https://goo.gl/pRZNyB

Encourage your organization to endorse the HALT Solitary Confinement Act: https://goo.gl/forms/FM2F6DZAcPZp1co32

Please visit our ACTION and EVENTS pages for more ways that you can help end the torture of solitary conifinement in New York!

GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED SOLITARY REGS WOULD NOT CREATE EFFECTIVE CHANGE!

KEY RESOURCES FROM HALT SOLITARY CAMPAIGN:
COVID-19 and Solitary Confinement in New York: Solitary is NOT Medical Isolation

#HALTsolitary Organizer Jerome Wright's Testimony for Hearing on Racially Disporoportionate Impact of COVID-19

HALT Solitary Bill Will Decrease - NOT Increase - Costs to NY State

Blueprint for Ending Solitary Confinement in NYC Jails, October 2019

#HALTsolitary Campaign Comments on Gov. Cuomo's Proposed Solitary Confinement Regulations, October 2019

IN THE MEDIA:
Albany Times Union article on our protest outside the Governor's 2020 Budget Address

Powerful op-ed by Jerome Wright in the Albany Times-Union highlighting how alternatives to solitary are more effective for safety

Alicia Barraza and Jerome Wright on Capital Tonight and Capital Pressroom. You can watch the Capital Tonight segment here

For updates, follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

TRUTH COMMISSION ON TORTURE:
Watch powerful testimonies from our People’s Truth Commission on the torture of Solitary Confinement in the NY State Capitol Building! On June 18, survivors of solitary, family members, and other experts and community members testified about the horrors of solitary confinement and how we can end it.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!


ABOUT THE #HALTSOLITARY CAMPAIGN

The New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NYCAIC), the coalition behind the #HALTsolitary Campaign, works to end the torture of prolonged isolation in New York's prisons and jails through public education, community organizing, and support for passage of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act in the New York State Legislature.

People in solitary and other forms of isolated confinement are locked down for 22 to 24 hours a day, without meaningful human contact, programming, or therapy, in cells smaller than the average parking space. These conditions cause human beings to deteriorate psychologically, physically, and also harms their families and communities. Solitary has been shown to be unsafe and ineffective as well as inhumane. Despite these facts, New York utilizes isolated confinement at rates well above the national average, with some 4,000 people in isolation in state prisons, and hundreds more in local jails. Although the UN has said that solitary confinement beyond 14 days can amount to torture, many individuals in New York remain in isolation for months, years, or even decades.


PLEASE SUPPORT THE #HALTsolitary CAMPAIGN AT THIS CRITICAL TIME

Much of the progress the campaign has made in the last year--including passing the HALT Solitary bill in the NY Assembly--is due to the work of our dedicated staff, which is made up entirely of people directly impacted by incarceration and solitary confinement. But currently, NYCAIC cannot afford to sustain these staff positions through the rest of this year. PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TODAY IN ANY AMOUNT to ensure that we can keep our amazing staff and keep the momentum going! All donations are tax-deductible. Click on the donation box in the sidebar to lend your support.

THE #HALTSOLITARY BLOG: NEWS ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN NEW YORK

Legislators and Over 800 People from Across the State Rally in the Capitol Demanding New York Complete Unfinished Business by Passing HALT Solitary Confinement Act Immediately

PRESS RELEASE Contact: Jerome Wright jwright@nycaic.org, 716.909.2425  (Albany, NY) — Over 800 people, including survivors of solitary confinement, family members of people in solitary, New York State legislators (see thread), and other advocates held a rally and press conference in the Capitol to demand that New York complete the unfinished business from last session, follow the […]

NEWS: Citing Repeated Delays by City, Advocates Release Their Own Rules to End Solitary Confinement in NYC

(Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY) (New York, NY) – The Jails Action Coalition (JAC) in collaboration with the #HALTsolitary Campaign released today their own proposed rules for ending solitary confinement in all New York City jails. Both groups are made up of directly impacted people, community members, legal and mental health experts, and others. These proposed […]

NEWS: #HALTsolitary Campaign Statement on Layleen Polanco’s Tragic Death in Solitary at Rikers Island

(New York, NY) — Today, the #HALTsolitary Campaign released the following statement on new evidence about Layleen Polanco’s tragic death and Elizabeth Warren’s call for an end to solitary confinement: “The #HALTsolitary Campaign continues to mourn for Layeen Polanco and commends Senator Elizabeth Warren for drawing attention to her unconscionable and tragic death and calling […]

NEWS: #HALTsolitary Campaign Launches Hunger Strike to Demand an End to Prolonged Solitary Confinement in NY

By Victoria Law. Excerpted from Gothamist. (June 13) During her six years in prison, Jovada Senhouse was sent to solitary confinement three times. Twice, she was caught fighting and sentenced to 30 days in solitary. The day she was released from her second solitary stint, Senhouse was caught kissing her girlfriend in the prison gym. […]

NEWS: 15 Jewish Leaders in NY Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins’ District Urge Passage of HALT Bill

(Westchester, NY) – Today, April 22, a new group of 15 rabbis and other Jewish community leaders released an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins urging the New York State Senate to immediately bring the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (S.1623-Sepúlveda/A.2500-Aubry) to the floor for a vote. The rabbis, cantors, Jewish communal leaders, and […]

NEWS: HALT Solitary Confinement Act Has Enough Support To Pass NY State Senate

By Denis Slattery. Excerpted from NY Daily News. (March 22) – A majority of Democratic state Senators are on board with bringing solitary confinement to end in the Empire State. Advocates applauded lawmakers Friday for rallying behind a bill that would bar jails from punishing prisoners by locking them away on their own for extended […]

NEWS: #HALTsolitary Commends Legislature for Rejecting Cuomo’s Flawed Proposal on Solitary Confinement

(New York, NY) – Today, March 15, the #HALTsolitary Campaign, a coalition of survivors of solitary confinement, family members of people in solitary, mental health and legal experts, people of faith, and others, released the following statement in support of the Legislature’s rejection of Governor Cuomo’s proposal on solitary confinement in their one-house budget resolutions: […]

NEWS: #HALTsolitary Advocates Push for Mental Health Reform

By Matt Hunter. Excerpted from Spectrum News. Doug Van Zandt says his son, Benjamin, never displayed signs of mental illness until he was 17 years old and was arrested for starting a fire inside a home in Delmar. “Our son was a happy 17-year-old kid, he was doing fantastic at school,” Van Zandt said. “He […]

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