CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202-547-1920
SACRAMENTO, CA - Today national faith leaders and California clergy issued their support for AB280, the California Mandela Act, legislation which places comprehensive limits on the use of solitary confinement in jails and prisons. AB280 is the first bill in the nation to also cover private immigration detention facilities. The legislation bans the use of solitary confinement against pregnant people, individuals with certain disabilities, as well as individuals under 26 and over 59.
In advance of today’s hearing by the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture submitted to the Committee a letter of support for AB280.
The United Nations, leading medical and mental health experts, and other developed nations broadly recognize the use of prolonged solitary confinement as a form of torture. Yet incarcerated individuals can be held in isolated conditions of confinement for months, years, and in California, even decades.
Laura Markle Downton, M.Div., Director of Faith and Community Engagement for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “AB280, inspired by the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules, which defines prolonged solitary confinement as torture, provides an opportunity for California to move to the right side of history in relationship to this critical human rights issue and to join the growing list of states banning this practice. In 2022, Connecticut became the third state in the U.S. to ban prolonged isolated confinement legislatively, following New Jersey in 2019 and New York in 2021. The tide is turning as our society rejects this form of torture: it is time for California lawmakers to follow suit.”
Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, President, Board of Directors of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, "As a person of faith, solitary confinement goes against all of my moral and religious beliefs. By treating another human being in such an inhumane and damaging way, physically, mentally and emotionally, we sacrifice pieces of our own humanity. As a Californian, it is a stain on our state that we continue to permit, and often encourage, the use of solitary as a form of enhanced punishment. I urge the passing of the Mandela Act, an opportunity to join other states in the nation in banning this barbaric practice."
Rabbi Michael Lezak, GLIDE, said "At GLIDE, we believe in the sanctity of each and every human being. Each day, we work to address the physical, mental, and emotional effects of involvement in the criminal legal systems and the toll it takes on our clients. Solitary confinement is cruel, inhumane, and counterproductive. This weapon of oppression, which is disproportionately wielded against people of color and people with disabilities, should be discontinued immediately. We urge our elected officials to support AB 280, The California Mandela Act, and make the moral choice to end this torture."
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.
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