NRCAT Press Releases

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."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 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, faith leaders applaud NY State Senate’s passage of groundbreaking HALT Solitary Confinement Act
S2836 would end the torture of solitary confinement in New York

WASHINGTON – Today the New York State Senate passed S2836, also known as the “Humane Alternatives To Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act,” in a 42-21 vote. This following Tuesday’s 101-49 passage by the State Assembly. The bill goes next to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his signature. If enacted into law, New York will join New Jersey as one of only two states with comprehensive legislation limiting the use of solitary confinement for all incarcerated people through the action of a state legislature.

The HALT Act limits the use of solitary confinement in New York prisons to 15 consecutive days and to 20 days within any 60 day period. Also, it mandates alternatives to solitary that provide therapy, treatment and rehabilitative programming in Residential Rehabilitation Units.

Fifteen consecutive days can cause permanent psychological harm yet is shockingly common in the United States. Nearly 15 percent of people held in solitary confinement have been held in extreme isolation for more than one year, and nearly 30% have been in solitary confinement for one to three months.

“Today a supermajority of the New York State Senate voted to end the torture of solitary confinement in all NYS prisons and county jails. The victory restores the hope and humanity of incarcerated people and brings us a step closer to a system that reflects our values of true accountability without exacerbating harm while incarcerated.

“As a survivor of solitary confinement and now a national organizer on prison conditions, I applaud the directly impacted leaders of the HALT Solitary Campaign who have spent years channeling the trauma they experienced into making sure others do not have to experience the same. I stand firmly in gratitude for their leadership which has brought forth the most progressive legislation in the United States limiting solitary confinement, and I look forward to seeing other states follow New York’s lead.” – Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prisons Program, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Former Communications Chair of the New York #HALTsolitary Campaign

In response to this important step for human rights, the National Religious Campaign against Torture and faith leaders issued the following statements:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 26, 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 Biden executive order phasing out federal contracts with private prisons

“It’s time to end the commercial exploitation of predominantly black and brown people.”

WASHINGTON – Today President Biden signed an executive order ordering the Justice Department to not renew federal contracts with private prisons, a major victory in the movement to take the profit motive out of prisons.

In response to the executive order, Mr. Johnny Perez, Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s U.S. Prisons Program, issued the following statement:

“Private prison executives and investors make their fortunes by lobbying for policies that fill beds and keep people behind bars as long as they can. By removing the profit motive from incarceration, we move away from an era of commercial exploitation of predominantly black and brown people and move closer to a society that reflects our shared morals and values. This executive order is a good step in the right direction, and we look forward to the many others to come.”

MEDIA ADVISORY: September 11, 2020
CONTACT: Ben Roussel, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 202-210-3112

Criminal justice reform advocates, artists to host #WeAreAllRikers web teleconference presenting ‘Rikers Quilt’
Art installation inspired by Mayor DeBlasio’s lack of urgency in closing Rikers

NEW YORK – On Saturday, September 12, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and other national and local criminal justice reform advocates and artists will host a web teleconference to draw attention to government inaction and presenting the Rikers Quilt, a 20’ x 24’ mobile installation currently on display at MoMA PS1.

Created by artist Jesse Krimes, the 20’ x 34’ quilt contains 3,650 panels cut from prison bedsheets and representing each day over the next 10 years, after which Mayor DeBlasio projects Rikers Prison to finally close.

WHAT: #WeAreAllRikers Rikers Quilt webconference
WHEN: September 12, 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. EST
WHO:

• Artist Jesse Krimes
• Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prison Programs, National Religious Campaign Against
• Leading criminal justice reform advocates from CA, CT, GA, LA, MA, NJ, NY, PA, TX, VA

WHERE:

•  Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IFBDA5AqRwOU8LfjvpjAlw
•  Instagram: @MoMaps1
•  #WeAreAllRikers can also be viewed live at Court Square Park, Court Square & Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2020
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

National Faith Group Condemns 500% Increase in Solitary Confinement

WASHINGTON, DC –  In response to a new Unlock the Box Report, Solitary is Never the Answer, which finds an almost 500% increase in the numbers of incarcerated people nationwide facing solitary confinement as a result of responses by Departments of Corrections to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said this:

“The findings in this new report are deeply alarming to people of faith who have long been committed to ending the torture of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, jails and detention centers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, corrections departments must distinguish humane medical isolation, which is accompanied by adequate protection and mass testing, from the torture of solitary confinement, and institute practices that guard the health of incarcerated people and staff. In addition, the federal Bureau of Prisons placement of all BOP facilities under “total lockdown” in response to on-going protests for racial justice in our communities, despite a lack of unrest within the prisons, is unconscionable. System-wide solitary confinement and denial of communications with loved ones should never be a response to protests for racial justice.

Such dramatic increases in the use of solitary confinement are immoral, impede years of advocacy for reform, and are a threat to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they are out of step with best practices identified by leading voices in the field of corrections including the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA).”