NRCAT Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2022
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Leaders Respond to DOJ Report Finding Evidence of Unconstitutional Conditions at Mississippi State Prison

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, faith leaders responded to a scathing report by The United States Department of Justice report following an investigation of the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). According to the report, the investigation revealed that conditions at the Parchman facility violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Failures include not addressing the needs of incarcerated people with serious mental health needs, inadequate suicide prevention measures, and prolonged solitary confinement leading to deaths by suicide.

“This report is significant in that it marks the first time the Department of Justice has concluded that a prison’s use of solitary confinement violates the constitutional rights of persons without serious mental illness,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “For the many faith communities and solitary survivors working to expose the inhumanity of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails, this report reveals a hidden reality we have known for years: that solitary confinement is torture. Significantly for our campaigns, it points to not only the moral imperative to end isolation, but a legal imperative as well.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2022
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

WASHINGTON, DC - Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, joined one hundred prominent Christian leaders in the United States in an open letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, asking him to speak out against his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The letter, sent to Kirill on March 11, laments the “tragic and terrible loss of innocent civilian life” and includes an “earnest plea that you use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so.”

His Holiness Kirill is Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is Russia's dominant religious group.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2022
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

Twenty-Nine National Faith Groups Call on Congress and President Biden to Close the Prison at Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, Jan. 11, twenty-nine national faith groups sent a letter to President Biden and all Members of Congress calling on them “to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to ensure that all of the people held there are either released, agree to a plea deal, or receive a fair trial in a federal court.”

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

“For twenty years our country has held people without charge or trial in Guantanamo. Some of the people we still hold there were tortured by the U.S. after they were captured. Others have been cleared to leave Guantanamo yet remain imprisoned there, indefinitely detained without trial. Today, on the anniversary of the day the first detainees were sent to Guantanamo, a broad swath of the American faith community wrote to President Biden and to Congress to call on them to finally close the prison. Twenty years of Guantanamo is twenty years too long.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Closing Guantanamo

WASHINGTON – At 10 AM today, December 7, the Senate Judiciary Committee will convene a hearing titled: “Closing Guantanamo: Ending 20 Years of Injustice.” The hearing, which will explore steps President Biden can take to close Guantanamo, comes after Senator Durbin (D-IL) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to close Guantanamo, and after the House passed a version of the bill that removed restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for trial.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torutre, said this about the hearing:

“The Senate Judiciary Committee is right to hold a hearing on the 20 years of injustice at Guantanamo. Many of the people held in Guantanamo were tortured by U.S. personnel, and most have never been charged with or tried for any crime. President Biden should act to close Guantanamo by rapidly transferring Guantanamo detainees to other countries where their human rights will be respected. Congress should support President Biden in his pledge to close Guantanamo by removing the legal prohibitions on transferring detainees to the U.S. for trial or for necessary medical treatment. Twenty years of injustice is 20 years too long. Guantanamo prison needs to be closed now!”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 18, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith & Human Rights Leaders Working to End Federal Solitary Confinement Respond to Senator Durbin’s Call to Remove the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Following an Associated Press Scathing Report on the Bureau of Prisons’ “Hotbed of Abuse, Graft and Corruption,” Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce Urges New Transformative BOP Leadership that Will Prioritize Decarceration and Ending Solitary Confinement

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, following a scathing Associated Press report on the horrific and rampant abuses of the federal Bureau of Prisons, members of the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce (FAST) joined Senate Judiciary Chairperson Dick Durbin in calling for new leadership at the abusive federal Bureau of Prisons. Led by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, ACLU, Unlock the Box Campaign,Vera Institute for Justice, Center for Constitutional Rights, and #HALTsolitary Campaign, FAST is urging the Biden Administration to ensure BOP leadership that prioritizes decarceration, ending solitary confinement, and stopping rampant staff abuse. In June, the Taskforce released a Blueprint for Ending Solitary Confinement by the Federal Government, and believes new BOP leadership should be committed to immediately implementing the Blueprint to fulfill the campaign pledges of President Biden and Vice President Harris to end solitary confinement.

“The inaction of Director Carvajal on ending the torture of over 10,000 people currently being held in solitary confinement in federal prisons is both a moral failure and political malpractice, given President Biden’s pledge to end solitary,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “That Director Carvajal continues to allow the criminal activities of prison employees to go unpunished is an affront to human dignity and a danger to our nation. Senator Durbin is right. Carvajal needs to go.”

“We echo the sentiments of Senator Durbin and applaud him for his leadership to call for the removal of Director Michael Carvajal,” said Jessica Sandoval, National Director of the national advocacy campaign, Unlock the Box, a campaign focused on ending solitary confinement in U.S. jails, prisons and juvenile facilities.  “In addition to the myriad of longstanding abuses of the federal Bureau of Prisons, what we observed during the pandemic has been and continues to be a failed response to manage the virus that has already led to the deaths of nearly 300 people in federal custody, and contributed to the 500% increase in the use of solitary confinement. New, effective leadership is badly needed to fundamentally transform this racist and abusive institution, starting with decarceration and an end to solitary confinement.”

“Federal prisons, like state and local facilities, are places void of hope and dignity for all those who live and work inside.” said Johnny Perez, solitary confinement survivor and the Director of the U.S. Prisons Program of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “Any person who is leading the Bureau of Prisons must lead in such a way as to preserve the dignity of all incarcerated people. We commend Senator Durbin for being mindful of these values and uplifting the need for leadership to do the same. We need true leadership that will prioritize decarceration and immediately implement the blueprint to end solitary confinement once and for all.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Leaders Join in Letter to Biden: End U.S. Program of Lethal Strikes Abroad

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture joined 113 organizations from the United States and around the world in sending a letter to President Biden calling for an end to the U.S. program of lethal strikes outside recognized battlefields, including through the use of drones. The groups’ focus varies from: human rights; civil rights and civil liberties; racial, social, and environmental justice; humanitarian approaches to foreign policy; faith-based initiatives; peacebuilding; government accountability; veterans’ issues; and the protection of civilians.

“Successive presidents have now claimed the unilateral power to authorize secretive extrajudicial killing outside any recognized battlefield, with no meaningful accountability for wrongful deaths and civilians lives lost and injured,” reads the letter, which was signed by organizations based in the United States as well as in countries impacted by the program, including Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. “This program is a centerpiece of the United States’ forever wars and has exacted an appalling toll on Muslim, Brown, and Black communities in multiple parts of the world. Twenty years into a war-based approach that has undermined and violated fundamental rights, we urge you to abandon it and embrace an approach that advances our collective human security.”

The letter calls on the Biden administration to use its ongoing review of the program, as well as the upcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11, as an opportunity to disavow and end the lethal strikes program for good. Read the letter in full here.

Below are statements from signatories:

“Because we are all God’s children, the decision to take a life is morally perilous. And, if it is ever justifiable, it must truly be a last resort. Unfortunately, two decades of drone strikes and other lethal acts, often carried out well away from any recognized battlefield, show that rather than using lethal force as a last resort, killing has instead become our government’s default approach to perceived threats. President Biden must end the policy of using drone strikes and other lethal strikes in order to preemptively address possible threats. Two decades of killing is two decades too many.”
— Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director, Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Office of Public Witness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 29, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

With New Survey Showing Widespread Public Support For Changes to Solitary Confinement, Experts Urge Adoption of Federal Blueprint for Ending Solitary
In Light of President Biden’s Campaign Pledge to End Solitary Confinement, and With a New Study Showing 86% of Registered Voters Support Change, the Blueprint Provides Specific Plans for How the President and U.S. Congress Can Stop This Torture

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, along with people who survived solitary, impacted family members, and other leading experts urged the Biden Administration and Congress to immediately adopt a Blueprint for Ending Solitary Confinement recently released by the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce. Their call for action comes in light of a new survey released today by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) at the University of Maryland, which revealed that 86% of registered voters, including 84% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats, supported changes to solitary confinement policies and practices in U.S. prisons and jails. The Blueprint provides specific proposals for how the U.S. federal government can use executive, administrative, and legislative action to end solitary confinement in federal custody, while also incentivizing states and localities to do the same. On the campaign trail, President Biden and Vice President Harris, as well as other leading Democratic presidential candidates, including Senators Warren and Sanders, promised to end solitary confinement. Advocates urged that now is the moment to fulfill those campaign pledges by adopting the Blueprint’s recommendations. 

Johnny Perez, Director of the U.S. Prisons Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said: “This new survey shows that current solitary confinement policies are way out of step with public opinion and that there is overwhelming, bipartisan support for taking a stand against this torturous and counterproductive practice. As a growing number of states and localities pursue dramatic policy changes to end or restrict solitary, now is the moment for bold action by the federal government to end the practice once and for all, including incentivizing states to end it. We are hopeful the Biden-Harris Administration, as well as Congress, will follow through with their campaign promise to end solitary by any name and in all forms.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 7, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

People of Faith Join in Releasing First-Ever Federal Blueprint for Ending Solitary Confinement
Blueprint Provides Specifics for How the President and Congress Can Make Good on Biden's Promise to Stop This Torturous Practice

WASHINGTON, DC - The Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce (FAST), a coalition of which the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a member, released the first-ever Blueprint for Ending Solitary Confinement by the Federal Government today. This document outlines how the United States government can use executive, administrative, and legislative action to end the torture of solitary confinement in federal custody, including in Bureau of Prisons facilities, U.S. Marshals Service facilities, and immigration detention.

“There are a growing number of states that have taken a stand against the torture of solitary confinement,” said Johnny Perez, director of the U.S. Prisons Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and a survivor of solitary confinement. “It is time for the federal government to lead by ending the practice once and for all and incentivizing states to do so. We are hopeful the Biden-Harris administration will follow through with their campaign promise to end solitary by any name and in all forms.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2021
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Leaders Critical of Biden Administration Decision to Oppose Habeas Corpus for Guantanamo Detainee Asadullah Haroon Gul

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, May 12, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement in response to the Biden Administration decision to oppose Guantanamo detainee Asadullah Haroon Gul’s habeas corpus case:

“The right to a fair trial is fundamental to justice. Yet for almost 20 years, our country has operated an overseas prison, on land leased from Cuba, where it holds 40 people, most without charge or trial. Several of the people held in Guantanamo were also tortured there. President Biden promised to close the prison at Guantanamo, and that is why it’s so disappointing to people of faith that the Administration is opposing Asadullah Haroon Gul’s habeas corpus petition. If President Biden is serious about closing Guantanamo, his Administration needs to move detainees out of the prison instead of crafting legal arguments for why the U.S. is technically allowed to continue to hold them without trial.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2021
CONTACT: Ben Roussel, 202-210-3112, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

National Religious Campaign Against Torture Applauds New York for Ending Solitary Confinement in State Prisons and Jails

WASHINGTON - The National Religious Campaign Against Torture applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo for signing the HALT Solitary Confinement Act in New York last night, effectively ending the torture of long-term solitary confinement in the state. The legislation is set to be implemented in March of 2022, and applies to all New York prisons and jails. It will impact tens of thousands of people a year who are imprisoned and land in isolation, often for longer than the 15 day limit set by the new law, and sometimes for months, years and even decades.

The eight-year effort to pass the bill, led by the broad-based New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, was finally won as progressive legislators used their supermajorities in the Senate and Assembly to ensure passage.

“This is a huge moral victory for the people of New York – especially for anyone who has ever been held in solitary confinement. The success of the campaign in winning this legislation will inspire activists across the country who are right now pushing legislation to end solitary in their state prisons and jails,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Mr. Victor Pate, NRCAT staff member and NY Statewide Organizer with the #HALTsolitary Campaign, recounts his experience of two years in solitary confinement during 15 years in prison: “It didn’t take me long to start seeing things that weren’t in my cell, to start having a conversation with nobody there. You never get over that.” Further Pate said, “The leadership of solitary survivors, with support from many including faith communities across New York state, got us to this important victory towards ending the torture of long-term solitary confinement in the state. We will now be watching implementation of the new law."