FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 9, 2016
CONTACT: Benny Witkovsky, West End Strategy Team - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; (o) 202-766-7700, (c) 202-765-4290
Local Faith Leaders Testify in Support of New Jersey Bill Limiting Solitary Confinement
Trenton, NJ – Local faith leaders and representatives of The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) will be in full force at the State Capitol in Trenton, New Jersey on Thursday, March 10 in support of significant reform and reduction of solitary confinement in New Jersey prisons and jails. Several local clergymembers will testify in support of the passage of the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (S.51), a powerful new bill that limits the practice statewide.
Members of the media are invited to attend the hearing. NRCAT representatives and affiliated clergy members will be available for interview.
Who:Rev. Charles Boyer of the Bethel African Methoidst Episcopal Church in Woodbury, NJ; NRCAT board member Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, and Rabbi David Levy
What: Hearing on S.51: the Isolated Confiment Restriction Act, which would place significant limits on the use of solitary confiment in New Jersey
Where: Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, in Committee Room 10, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
When: Thursday, March 10 at 10:30am
"As faith leaders in our state, we are deeply concerned by the well documented racial inconsistencies in the application of justice at nearly every level of the justice system," said Rev. Charles F. Boyer, a NRCAT member and pastor of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Woodbury, NJ who will testify in front of the New Jersey Senate Law and Public Safety Committee in support of S.5. "According to a 2009 Human Rights Watch report, New Jersey is ranked third among all states in its rate of locking up African Americans for drug related offenses. The disproportionate representation of people of color in New Jersey correctional facilities causes us to infer similar racial imbalance in its solitary confinement population, although we have been denied the current demographic statistics. Our shared values of social equality and fair treatment irrespective to race cause us to flatly denounce the racist application of justice found not only in the seizure and sentencing process but present in the housing and classification of incarcerated persons."
"I am a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal church, and as such I am committed to the values of restorative justice and community," Rev. Boyer continued. "I believe that there are no throw-away people. I believe that our state must implement policies that reflect the inherent dignity and potential of each person, without exception. The Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (S.51) is supported by a broad array of faith groups who share these convictions."
The Isolated Confiment Restriction Act would outlaw the practice of isolation for members of vulnerable populations – individuals with disabilities, those who suffer from mental illness or those who are pregnant– and limit its use for everyone to no more than 15 consectuive days or 20 days in a 60-day period. These restrictions highlight the need to make solitary confinement a rare, rather than all-too-commonplace, practice as it is in today's criminal justice system. Momentum to confront solitary confinement in New Jersey, and in states from coast to coast and at the federal level, has been steadily growing for the last several years. This bill is a necessary step to address the growing nationwide outrage over the practice of isolation.
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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