FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2018
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Interfaith Coalition Applauds NY Assembly inclusion of HALT Act in Criminal Justice Legislative Package

WASHINGTON, DC -  Joining with partners throughout New York state, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture applauds the New York Assembly for including the Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (A.3080) in its criminal justice reform package.

Prolonged solitary confinement is an internationally recognized form of torture. Nationwide, alternatives to solitary are supported by leading corrections officials and a growing number of state legislatures. In New York, the HALT Act creates alternatives to isolated confinement for any person separated from general population for more than 15 continuous days. It requires that such persons be in a separate secure residential rehabilitation unit – a rehabilitative and therapeutic unit aimed at providing additional programs, therapy, and support to address underlying needs and causes of behavior, with 6 hours per day of out-of-cell programming plus 1 hour of out-of-cell recreation.

The HALT Act also prohibits special populations from placement in solitary confinement, including persons twenty-one and younger, fifty-five and older, and pregnant women.

Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prisons Program, said, "The HALT bill will bring relief to more than 5,000 people who are subjected to the torturous conditions in New York by creating meaningful alternatives. For the interfaith members of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture throughout New York state, its passage is a moral imperative."

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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