(Updated) Media Advisory: June 18, 2012
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
TUESDAY: Faith Leaders to Discuss Opposition to Prolonged Solitary Confinement
Capitol Hill press conference to conclude 23-hour nationwide fast following first-ever Congressional hearing on solitary confinement
Washington, D.C. – A group of religious leaders will end a 23-hour nationwide fast on Tuesday at 12 p.m. in the Hart Senate Office Building, interceding on behalf of the tens of thousands of American prisoners currently housed in solitary confinement across the country. The fast will be held in conjunction with a Senate hearing on the use of solitary confinement in the U.S. federal penitentiary system. This is the first time Congress has explored this issue.
Hundreds of people of faith across the country have agreed to take part in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s “23-Hour Fast to End 23-Hour Solitary” in anticipation of Tuesday’s Senate hearing. The length of the fast symbolizes the 23 hours per day inmates are typically required to spend in solitary confinement cells. As evidenced by recent prisoner hunger strikes in Virginia and California, refusing food is one of the few means prisoners across the country have to protest their conditions in solitary confinement. The fast is intended to draw attention to the physical, emotional and psychological harm caused by prolonged solitary confinement.
A 12 p.m. press conference Tuesday will include a ceremonial “breaking of the bread” among religious leaders of various faiths, to conclude the fast. Among those attending will be:
- Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- Linda Gustitus, President, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- Dave Louden, Chief of Staff, Justice Fellowship/Prison Fellowship Ministries
- Bill Mefford, Director of Civil and Human Rights, General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
- Maggie Siddiqi, Program Coordinator, Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America
- Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Director of North American Programs, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America
- Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, Director, Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness
- Kathy McNeely, Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
- Archbishop Michael Seneco, Presiding Bishop, North American Old Catholic Church
- Rev. Jonathan Barton, General Minister, Virginia Council of Churches
The press conference is open to the media, and coverage is welcome. Photo and video opportunities will be available.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) has been outspoken and effective in its efforts to limit the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. Its press conference will follow a hearing, “Reassessing Solitary Confinement: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety Consequences,” convened at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 19, in Dirksen 226 by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, chaired by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.
What: Discussion on the harmful use of solitary confinement in our nation’s federal prisons, jails, and detention centers
When: Tuesday, June 19, 2012, at 12 p.m.
Where: Senate Banking Committee Room
Room 216, Hart Senate Office Building **CHANGE IN ROOM**
Washington, D.C.
Who: The National Religious Campaign Against Torture and supporters
Why: To share the reasons prolonged solitary confinement is morally, psychologically and physically harmful, as well as economically detrimental, and to discuss alternatives
