FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2023
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

California Mandela Act Passes California Senate, Faith Leaders Urge Gov Newsom’s Support to End the Torture of Solitary Confinement

SACRAMENTO, CA - Today the California Senate passed AB280, the California Mandela Act. Following similar legislation in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, the bill limits the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons, and private, for-profit immigrant detention centers in California. The bill passed the Assembly by a super-majority earlier this year, and now returns to the Assembly following minor changes in the Senate.

As the legislature heads to adjournment later this week, the bill will carry over into the second year of the 2023-2024 Legislative Session. People of faith are joining solitary survivors and other advocates in calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to support this important bill.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “Last year when the Governor vetoed this bill, he said that this issue was ‘ripe for reform.’ The California Assembly and Senate have done their part to end the torture of solitary confinement, now it's up to the Governor to exercise his moral leadership and prioritize compassion and safety over business as usual.”

In a letter to Governor Newsom on September 7th, 38 leading religious organizations and faith communities in California, including the California Catholic Conference, Glide Memorial Church, the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, and national faith organizations with a significant presence in California including T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Justice Revival, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, called on the governor to support the California Mandela Act. In the letter to Gov. Newsom, the religious organizations state:

“We commend your efforts to reform California’s prisons and end policies of mass incarceration. We applaud your support for the reduction of California’s prison population, and the closure of certain facilities that are no longer necessary. We also applaud your efforts to reimagine San Quentin as a facility that is focused more on rehabilitation rather than punishment. However, we believe that none of these policies can stand on their own unless they provide an alternative to the unchecked use of solitary confinement.

Solitary confinement is broadly recognized as torture by the United Nations, leading medical and mental health experts, and governors of other states like New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey who have signed Mandela-like bills legislating a ban on prolonged isolation in the past four years. These governors, and their state legislative bodies, have found that limiting the use of solitary confinement in state prisons, jails, and detention centers does not compromise safety inside these facilities, and in fact can make them safer for both staff and incarcerated individuals.”

Read the full text of the letter here.

For more information on the California Mandela Act and the California Mandela Campaign, please visit https://camandelabill.org/

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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