News from New Jersey:
New Report on Solitary Released: New Jersey subjects its prisoners to longer durations in isolated confinement than most states, according to reports published by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Arthur Liman Center at Yale Law School. The report found that New Jersey ranks fourth in the country in the number of its prisoners who are held in isolation for more than six years. New Jersey also disproportionately uses solitary confinement against Black and Hispanic prisoners. Over two-thirds of all isolated women and over three-fourths of all isolated men are “Black” or “Hispanic,” according to the report.
Local Media Highlights Work to End Solitary in New Jersey: Check out this segment from NJTV on the Liman report, featuring Rev. Charles Boyer and Lydia Thompson. And check out this report from NJ101.5 with Rev. Boyer and Justice Rountree.
Media Training for Solitary Survivors: On Saturday, October 6 survivors of solitary confinement from New Jersey and New York attended an all-day media training at the Columbia University School of Social Work. Among the day’s presenters were Justice Rountree and Amos Caley with NJ-CAIC; Khalil Cumberbatch, Associate Vice-President of Policy at The Fortune Society; Marlon Peterson, host of the Decarcerated podcast; and Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prisons Programs for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
Survivors’ Stories: NJ-CAIC has launched a storytelling project to interview survivors of solitary confinement. These stories will be shared with members of the public and legislators to build support for the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (A.314). If you are interested in sharing your story, please contact Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg at elizabethwg@gmail.com.
National News:
Unlock the Box: Advocates from across the country have joined to launch the Unlock the Box campaign, with the goal of ending #SolitaryConfinement in the next ten years. To learn more, visit unlocktheboxcampaign.org and help us #StopSolitary.