BREAKING NEWS: PRESS COVERAGE OF THE #HALTSOLITARY CAMPAIGN FROM THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF JUNE 2019
The Daily Gazette Endorses HALT: The Editorial Board of Daily Gazette (in Schenectady, near Albany) wrote this full endorsement of HALT.
amNY Column Supporting HALT: Columnist Mark Chiusano wrote this piece in support of the legislature passing HALT.
Albany Times Union Op-Ed Calling for HALT: Harvey Rosenthal, head of NYAPRS and longstanding and leading HALT supporter, wrote this powerful op-ed in the Albany Times Union calling for HALT’s passage.
Hunger Strike for HALT: On June 13, survivors of solitary and their allies began a hunger strike to demand an end to the torture of solitary confinement and enactment of #HALTsolitary. The strike has thus far been covered in the Gothamist, The Hill, and Solitary Watch.
HALT the Best Chance for People in Long Term Admin Seg: The Appeal and Solitary Watch co-published this powerful Joshua Manson piece about the horrors of administrative segregation in New York. The piece highlights the decades of solitary some people – like Patrick Proctor, Imhotep H’Shaka, Sean Ryan, and Billy Blake – have endured, the incredible litigation efforts these individuals have undertaken to challenge that abuse, and how passing HALT provides the best chance to end indefinite solitary.
Senator Sepúlveda & Parole Prep’s Anthony Dixon Push HALT on Capitol Pressroom: Anthony Dixon, of the Parole Prep Project joined HALT sponsor Senator Sepulveda on Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter to explain the urgency of passing the bill. While in solitary, Anthony suffered the trauma of hearing another person in his unit take his own life, and was forced to talk a friend in a different cell out of doing the same.
Spectrum News on HALT: Spectrum News highlighted the widespread legislator support for HALT, the devastating mental health impacts of solitary, and the push for change. Watch and read the Spectrum News coverage here, with video of Senator Carlucci, Victor Pate, Glenn Liebman (CEO of MHANYS), and others.
AP Reported on HALT: The Associated Press reported on HALT, highlighting that the bill has enough votes to pass, and also included it in this roundup of progressive bills that haven’t yet passed.
The Daily Appeal Highlights Need for HALT: Read the newsletter piece here. “The HALT Solitary Confinement Act incorporates the limits and protections long-recommended by human rights experts and now commands the support of a majority of New York’s lawmakers in both chambers.”
SELECTED PAST CAIC PRESS RELEASES AND STATEMENTS
Statement Thanking Speaker Heastie and NY State Assembly for Including the HALT Solitary Confinement Act in Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform Package, February 12, 2018.
Statement by the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement on President Obama’s Executive Actions to Restrict Solitary Confinement, January 27, 2016.
Lawmakers, Advocates, and Survivors of Solitary Confinement Back Legislation Limiting Use of Isolation in New York’s Prisons and Jails, April 22, 2015
New York Lawmakers Introduce Sweeping Reforms to Solitary Confinement in Prisons and Jails, January 31, 2014
Human Rights Day Vigils Will Challenge the Torture of Solitary Confinement in New York, December 6, 2013.
New York Activists Launch Fast Against Solitary Confinement in Solidarity with California Prison Hunger Strikers, July 13, 2013.
New York Groups Unite in Call for Alternatives to Solitary Confinement in Prisons and Jails, March 12, 2013.
ARTICLES AND COMMENTARIES
Legislation Limiting Solitary Confinement in New York Gains Momentum, Marco Poggio, Solitary Watch, April 29, 2015.
Women in New York State Prisons Face Solitary Confinement While Pregnant or Sick, Victoria Law, Solitary Watch, February 16, 2015.
Transgender Women in New York State Prisons Face Solitary Confinement and Sexual Assault, Aviva Stahl, Solitary Watch, August 7, 2014.
Solitary Confinement to End for Youngest at Rikers Island, Michael Shwirtz, The New York Times, September 24, 2014.
For Teens at Rikers Island Solitary Confinement Pushes Mental Limits, Trey Bundy, The Center For Investigative Reporting, March 4, 2014.
N.Y. Becomes Largest Prison System To Curb Solitary Confinement, Brian Mann, NPR, February 23, 2014.
Questioning Solitary Confinement for Adolescents at Rikers Island, PBS Newshour, February 21, 2014.
New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement, The Editorial Board, The New York Times, February 20, 2014.
New York State in Deal to Limit Solitary Confinement, Benjamin Weiser, The New York Times, February 19, 2014.
New York Lawmakers Introduce Bill to End Long-Term Solitary Confinement, Jean Casella, Solitary Watch, February 4, 2013.
Limiting Solitary, Graham Kates, The Crime Report, January 31, 2014.
As New York City Jails Amend Their Solitary Confinement Practices, Abuses on Rikers Island Continue, Aviva Stahl, Solitary Watch, January 16, 2014.
Reports Condemn Solitary Confinement in New York City’s Jails, As Officials Weigh Its Future, Marlies Talay, Solitary Watch, November 6, 2013.
Solitary Confinement’s Invisible Scars, Five Omar Mualimm-ak, The Guardian, October 30, 2013.
Sick and in Solitary, Maura R. O’Connor, The New York World, February 6, 2013.
The Cost of Solitary Confinement, Editorial, New York Times, December 14, 2012.
Jason Echeverria’s Death In City Jail Ruled Homicide, Graham Rayman, Village Voice, December 13, 2012.
Leroy Peoples Lawsuit Renews Debate Over Solitary Confinement, Matt Sledge, Huffington Post, December 10, 2012.
New York State Is Sued Over Use of Isolation in Its Prisons, Mosi Secret, New York Times, December 7, 2012.
Adolescents in Grown-Up Jails, Editorial, New York Times, October 16, 2012.
NYCLU Says NY Prisons Too Reliant on Solitary Confinement, Coleen Siuzdak, Legislative Gazette, October 9, 2012.
Unlock The Box: The Fight Against Solitary Confinement in New York, Jean Casella and James Ridgeway, The Nation, October 2, 2012.
No Human Dignity in ‘The Box’, Taylor Pendergrass, Albany Times-Union, October 2, 2012.
Prisoners’ Letters Offer a Window Into Lives Spent Alone in Tiny Cells, Mosi Secret, New York Times, October 2, 2012.
Solitary Confinement: New York’s Hidden Problem, Michael B. Mushlin, New York Law Journal, September 5, 2012.
New York’s Barbaric Prisons, Editorial, Albany Times-Union, August 15, 2012.
New York’s Black Sites, Jean Casella and James Ridgeway, The Nation, July 30, 2012.
The Crime of Solitary Confinement, Sister Marion Defeis, New York Daily News, June 4, 2012.
Solitary Confinement On the Rise at Rikers, Jeamarie Evelly, City Limits, May 27, 2012.
City to Sharply Increase Solitary Confinement on Rikers Island, Jean Casella and Dina Levy, Solitary Watch, November 21, 2011.
Special Report: Prison Suicide Rates Rise; Solitary Confinement Adds to Risk, Mary Beth Pfeiffer, Poughkeepsie Journal, April 11, 2011.
VIDEO AND AUDIO
H.A.L.T.ing Solitary Confinement: Jerome Wright on The Public Good, WUFO Radio, November 2017.
Solitary Confinement (featuring Buffalo CAIC members), WBNY Radio, August 2015.
Breaking Down the Box, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, June 2015.
From Solitary to the Street, Democracy Now, June 2015.
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Video Statement in Support of HALT Act, April 2015.
Why Solitary Confinement Is a Form of Torture by Molly Crabapple, Fusion, March 2015.
The wHole, Episode 1, 2015
Children of the Incarcerated, 2015
Solitary Symposium: Four Who Have Spent Time in Solitary, symposium organized by the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, November 17, 2012.
Solitary Symposium: The Scandal of Solitary in the U.S. Today, symposium organized by the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, November 17, 2012.
In Solitary — The Brian Lehrer Show, with Breyten Breytenbach, Taylor Pendergrass, and Lawrence Weschler, WNYC, November 16, 2012.
Solitary Confinement in New York State, panel discussion hosted by Metro New York Religious Campaign Against Torture, New York City, October 17, 2012.
Solitary Confinement in New York, town hall hosted by State Senator Bill Perkins, Harlem, NY, October 4, 2012.
Boxed-In: The True Cost of Extreme Isolation in New York’s Prisons, NYCLU, October 2, 2012.
Solitary Confinement Numbers at Rikers Buck National Trend, Courtney Gross, NY 1, September 11, 2012.
Is Solitary Confinement Torture?, with Liliana Segura and Jean Casella, Nation Conversations, July 26, 2012.
Solitary Confinement and New York’s Dramatic Rise in Prison Suicides, YNN News, December 6, 2011.
Torture in New York State Prisons?, panel discussion hosted by Metro New York Religious Campaign Against Torture, New York City, June 21, 2011.
Follow the #HALTsolitary Campaign