St. Stephen Episcopal Church Displays Replica of Solitary Confinement Cell - National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Media Advisory:
March 16, 2015

Contact: Benny Witkovsky, West End Strategy Team
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; (o) 202-776-7700, (c) 202-765-4290

St. Stephen Episcopal Church Displays Replica of Solitary Confinement Cell
Local Church Asks Parishioners to Contemplate Those Suffering in Solitary During Lent

WASHINGTON – This Sunday, during its observance of the Lenten season, St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church will host a full-size replica of a typical prison Special Housing Unit (SHU) or solitary confinement cell. Parishioners will be invited to walk through and reflect on the installation before and after this weekend’s Lenten services. The installation, first built in Wisconsin and now with a new construction beginning a tour of houses of worship on the East Coast, is designed to help communities of faith contemplate the experience of incarcerated persons and the torture of solitary confinement. Sponsored in part by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, this is one element of a broader effort to mobilize the faith community across the political spectrum to advocate for an end to solitary confinement.

Members of the media are invited to see the SHU Installation at St. Stephen Episcopal Church after services on Sunday, March 22. RSVP to Benny Witkovsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Who: St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
What: Installation of a full-size replica of a SHU or solitary confinement cell
Where: St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1525 Newton Street NW, Washington DC 20010
When: Sunday, March 22, 11:45AM

Liane Rozzell, Senior Warden of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church said about the installation, “This replica makes visible a shameful and cruel practice that is invisible to most people in the United States. Having this cell in our midst gives us an opportunity to understand the injustice of solitary confinement and then to move from deeper awareness to action.”

“I can’t think of a better symbol for the Lenten season than a 6x9 prison cell where individuals are held in isolation for months, years, even decades. It’s a modern day cross,” Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of National Religious Campaign Against Torture, added. “For Christians, lent is about re-focusing on God’s will for humanity, which our nation violates every day by holding 80,000 people in solitary confinement.”

Media interested in attending Sunday’s event should RSVP to Benny Witkovsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 300 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
NRCAT.org @NRCATtweets facebook.com/nrcat

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