Action

YOU CAN HELP END THE TORTURE OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN NEW YORK’S PRISONS AND JAILS!

NOW IS A CRITICAL TIME IN THE FIGHT AGAINST SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN NEW YORK!

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

THANK OUR LEGISLATORS FOR VOTING FOR HALT!

Please take a moment to check if your legislators voted in support of HALT, and if they did give them a call to thank them so much for voting to end this torture.

You can find your legislators here: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

You can see if your Assembly Member voted for HALT here.

You can see if your Senator voted for HALT here (click on “view votes” and then click on “floor votes”).

As we’ve seen before, there is likely to be push back against some of these legislators for their votes so it is important that we show them some thanks for standing up for HALT.

Please share this email with 5 to 10 of your friends and family!

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.

♦ 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

Additional Actions to Take to Support the HALT Solitary Confinement Act If You Have More Time!

♦ WRITE AN OP-ED: Members of the #HALTsolitary campaign are available to assist anyone who has been directly affected by solitary confinement with writing an op-ed for a print or online publication. Email caicadvocacyday@gmail.com for more information.

♦ WRITE A MEMO OF SUPPORT: Can any group you are a part of write a memo of support for the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, S.1623/A.2500, explaining why your group supports the bill? Email caicadvocacyday@gmail.com with a memo, any questions on how to put it together, or for a template.

♦ GET INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN: #HALTSolitary is a project of the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (NYCAIC). We hold monthly meetings in person and by tele-conference and engage in actions, vigils, workshops, and advocacy. Please see the Home page of this site to learn more about the coalition, sign up for our monthly email newsletter and/or listserv, and find out how you can get involved. Visit the Events page for upcoming meetings and other events you can join. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter @NYCAIC or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/NYCAIC. For more information, email Victor at vpate@nycaic.org. All are welcome! 

#HALTSolitary campaign members, including survivors of solitary confinement, are also available to make a presentation or host a town hall, panel discussion, film screening, training, workshop, or other event about solitary confinement in New York at your school, community center, or place of worship. We have a range of materials and would be happy to collaborate to plan an event. Contact Victor at vpate@nycaic.org to discuss.

MAKE A DONATION to the #HALTSolitary Campaign. Donations in any amount will enable us to retain our staff organizers, who are themselves survivors of solitary confinement and are crucial to our efforts to pass the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. Please support the campaign today with a tax-deductible donation at mightycause.com/story/Haltsolitary.

 

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US TO END THE TORTURE OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN OUR STATE!

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