FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2016

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National Religious Campaign Against Torture Sponsors Event to End Prolonged Solitary Confinement in New York State

Brooklyn, NY - The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is sponsoring an event on March 18, 2016 to educate the public about solitary confinement in New York prisons and jails, and to advocate for passage of the Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (A4401/S2659), legislation which would implement humane alternatives to long-term solitary confinement in New York State. In place of isolation, the bill proposes therapeutic interventions to address the root cause of behavior and end cycles of violence. This presentation and panel discussion, featuring subject matter experts and formerly incarcerated individuals, is free and open to the public.

Momentum to confront the practice of solitary confinement in New York State, in states from coast to coast and at the federal level has been steadily growing for the last several years. With the recent growth in media coverage and the historic reforms won in court by the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2015, a grass-roots coalition of local organizations has formed in recent years to build on and continue this forward trajectory.

"The only way to create transformative change is to engage the voices of the people in a new conversation," said Reverend Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Campaign Against Torture. "In presenting this event, we hope to educate communities of faith and conscience about the immoral torture of solitary confinement in our prisons and jails, to make clear that restorative and humane alternatives are possible. This is an issue that touches all of us: those who are incarcerated and their loved ones, corrections staff, and the communities to which those who are incarcerated will one day return. I am honored to join with leaders in this movement who have first-hand experience of the policies, procedures and abuse that impact over 4,000 people in prolonged solitary confinement in prisons and jails throughout New York State. Now is the time to create a more humane society in which restorative justice is a reality and torture of prolonged isolation is ended."

Members of the media are invited to attend the event and panelists will be available for interview.

Who: National Religious Campaign Against Torture and panelists - Scott Paltrowitz, Associate Director, Prison Visiting Project at Correctional Association of NY; Mary Buser, Author of "Lockdown on Rikers"; Terrence Slater, CEO, Incarcerated Nation; Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture; Ede Fox as Master of Ceremonies, Social Justice Committee Member, Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph

What: "Solitary Confinement: Torture in Your Backyard" Panel Discussion, followed by a public Q & A session

Where: Holy Family St. Thomas Aquinas Church Hall, 249 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215

When: Friday, March 18, 2016 from 7 - 9 pm

Co-Sponsors: Holy Family/St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Holy Name, Our Lady of Czestochowa-St. Cashimir, St. Augustine, St. John the Evangelist -St. Rocco, Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC), National Action Network, Our Lady of Peace, St. Francis Xavier, St. Saviour, Oratory Church of St. Boniface, Pax Christi, Street Corner Resources, Incarcerated Nation, Providence House, Network Support Services, Harlem Think Tank, Correctional Association, Cases.Org, The Prison Ministry of the Riverside Church of NY, American Friends Service Committee, Prison Watch Program, Centro Altagracia of Faith and Justice, Blessed Sacrament, Social Workers Against Solitary Confinement, Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, Harlem Renaissance High School

Panelist Bios:

• Scott Paltrowitz, Associate Director of the Prison Visiting Project (PVP), joined the Correctional Association of NY in January 2012. Scott pursues investigation, documentation, and advocacy aimed at improving conditions for individuals incarcerated in New York State. Scott also engages in coalition building, community outreach, and advocacy challenging particular abuses of the prison system, including solitary confinement, and the lack of adequate medical care and mental health services. Before joining the CA, Scott undertook different forms of refugee, immigration, and human rights advocacy both in the United States and abroad. He received his J.D. at Harvard Law School, his Master's in Public Administration, and Bachelor's in Industrial Labor Relations at Cornell University.
• Mary E. Buser, author of "Lockdown on Rikers" (St. Martin's Press, 1/29/15) was a clinical social worker in the Rikers Island Mental Health Department. She served as Assistant Chief of Mental Health in the island's Mental Health Center, as well as the 500-cell Punitive Segregation Unit. Since leaving Rikers, she has been an outspoken advocate for the incarcerated, especially the mentally ill and those held in solitary confinement. Her Op-ed, "Solitary's Mockery of Human Rights" was published in the The Washington Post (4/14). She has been a guest on the "Brian Lehrer Show," and was featured in the New York Daily News. Excerpts from her book have appeared in Politico, Salon, and Vice.
• Mr. Terrence Slater is CEO of The Incarcerated Nation Corp, after returning directly from extreme isolation solitary confinement in New York State. Incarcerated Nation is a collective of people and projects that provides service to those directly impacted. Mr. Slater is a member of the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement and organizes events that better educate the public around conditions of incarceration.
• The Rev. Ron Stief, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, is the executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an interfaith organization of more than 300 religious organizations committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture. Rev. Stief is a national leader and faith strategist on ending torture. He speaks widely at college campuses, interfaith events, and coalition actions to end torture. He has been interviewed on CNN, HuffPost Live, the New York Times, Religion News Service, Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter and many other national publications, and maintains an active writing presence on NRCAT social media and his Huffington Post blog. He is a member of the Executive Committee of Shoulder to Shoulder / Standing with American Muslims Upholding American Values and a board member of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good.
• Ede Fox, Social Justice Committee Member, Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, has had a long career in public service, currently working as the Director of the Economic and Community Development Division at the New York City Council for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Ms. Fox also served as chief of staff for Council Member Jumaane Williams, and prior to that Legislative and Budget director for Speaker Mark-Viverito. She has deep roots in civic life, running in a competitive race for City Council in 2013, as well as serving on Community Board 8 for ten years. Ms. Fox was born and raised in New York City. She attended Vassar College then graduated with a BA in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, an MA in Anthropology from UCLA and advanced to candidacy for her PhD in Anthropology at UCLA, including three years in the Netherlands conducting research for her Dissertation. She has been a member of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph's for 4 years and lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

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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