NRCAT Press Releases

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).”

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

NRCAT Joins Human Rights and National Security Partners in Full-Page Ad in Minneapolis Star Tribune

(Washington, DC) - On June 15, 2020, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture joined human rights and national security in a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The ad reads:

Click for Larger Image of the Ad

NRCAT Affirms the Sacred Value of Black Lives
On June 5, 2020, the staff of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture issued this statement:

The staff of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture affirms the sacred value of Black lives and condemns the anti-Black violence we have collectively mourned in recent days with the murders of Mr. George Floyd and Ms. Breonna Taylor by the police. Our experience working to end torture in U.S. policy, practice and culture teaches us that such acts of state violence are not isolated incidents but rather expose a culture of violence against people of color. This same state violence also pervades U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers, where on any given day tens of thousands of people, disproportionately adults and youth of color, are held in conditions of solitary confinement, a practice considered a form of torture by the United Nations, medical professionals and other developed countries.

We stand in solidarity with those whose moral outrage has courageously led them to engage in ongoing public protest demanding racial justice. We condemn the militarization of police departments and the use of National Guard and federal security forces, including riot teams from agencies like the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This level of response to peaceful protest only escalates tensions in our communities. We condemn the system-wide lockdown currently in force in the Federal Bureau of Prisons in response to public protests. Such actions do not make us safer as a society, but rather they poison the very soul of our nation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 11, 2019
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

New Jersey Governor Signs Historic Bill Restricting Solitary Confinement

Washington, DC - On July 11, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the first fully comprehensive legislation limiting the use of solitary confinement enacted by a state legislature. The Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (A314/S3261) passed the Senate in a 26-3 vote and the Assembly in a 49-24 vote with 5 abstentions.

Across the United States, momentum to end the use of solitary confinement has grown tremendously as a result of coordinated campaigns led by survivors of solitary and their families, mental health professionals, legal advocates, and faith leaders.

"The Isolated Confinement Restriction Act shows that our legislators are exemplifying the type of political courage that we all need. It shows that they are on the right side of justice by curbing torture inside of New Jersey prisons," said Johnny Perez, New Jersey resident and Director of the U.S. Prisons Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2019
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

New Jersey Legislature Approves Bill Restricting Solitary Confinement

Washington, DC - On June 20, 2019, the New Jersey legislature passed legislation that if signed into law will be the first comprehensive legislation limiting the use of solitary confinement enacted by a state legislature. The Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (A314/S3261) passed the Senate in a 26-3 vote and the Assembly in a 49-24 vote with 5 abstentions. The legislation now heads to Governor Phil Murphy, who affirmed his support for the bill during his gubernatorial campaign in 2017.

"Our legislators have made the right choice today, as they did in 2016," says Rev. Charles Boyer of Salvation and Social Justice. "And we trust that our governor will take the bold step necessary to ensure that New Jersey corrections system is more humane and, ultimately, safer for all involved."

Across the United States, momentum to end the use of solitary confinement has grown tremendously as a result of coordinated campaigns led by survivors of solitary and their families, mental health professionals, legal advocates, and faith leaders.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2019
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NRCAT Praises Congress for Voting to End War in Yemen

WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier today, a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives voted 247 to 175 to join the Senate in passing a resolution that, if signed into law, would end U.S. support for the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Yemen. Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture thanked Congress for this step and issued the following statement on the war:

"Our government's support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen directly implicates the U.S. in torture, killings of civilians, bombings of hospitals and school buses, and obliteration of the infrastructure necessary to feed and protect Yemen's 28 million people."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 19, 2019
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 Groups Call on Congress to End CIA Drone Strikes

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Religious Campaign Against Torture joined twenty five national faith groups to send a letter to the U.S. Congress today calling upon Congress to end the CIA’s use of armed drones to carry out lethal attacks. The letter states that CIA drone strikes “amount to a secret war” over which “there has never been a robust public or congressional debate.” The letter also notes that drone strikes remove “Americans from understanding the true moral and emotional costs of taking life.”

The full text of the letter can be found below: