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 periods of time.
The bill, which recently secured its 32nd co-sponsor, essentially ensuring its passage, would limit the time an inmate can spend in segregated confinement and “creates alternative therapeutic and rehabilitative confinement options.”
“Too many of our fellow human beings are being subjected to long-term solitary confinement and treated inhumanely,” said Victor Pate, a statewide organizer for the HALT Solitary campaign, during a rally Friday outside Gov. Cuomo’s Manhattan office.
Follow the #HALTsolitary Campaign