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Presidential Memorandum - Limiting the Use of Restrictive Housing by the Federal Government, which was released March 1, 2016, is available here.
NRCAT's Briefing Call on Presidential Executive Actions on Solitary Confinement was hosted Feb 23, 2016, featuring Juan Méndez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Listen to the recording available here.
Following a nationwide review of the use of solitary confinement, on January 25, 2016, the Department of Justice released its Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing. Calling solitary "an affront to our common humanity," in a Washington Post op-ed, President Obama announced adoption of the more than fifty "Guiding Principles" contained within the report, setting new standards in federal prisons and providing guidelines for all prisons and jails nationwide. Read NRCAT's response here.
NRCAT in the news
NRCAT Board Member and President of the Hip Hop Caucus, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. joins Mr. Terrence Slater in No Turning Back, Opinion: Obama’s action exposes the torture of solitary confinement for Fusion, noting, “The days of keeping solitary in the shadows are over.”
The New York Times editorial board called solitary confinement what it is: “a form of torture” psychologically damaging to all who are subjected to it.
Crackdown on solitary confinement begins, but a culture of secrecy remains, The Guardian. Rev. Laura Markle Downton calls for “therapeutic interventions that involve treatment not punishment.”
Labor Unions Should Heed Obama's Call to Reform Solitary Confinement, Huffington Post. Rev. Ron Stief says “correctional officers and their unions need to join the growing chorus to shut down solitary confinement in the U.S., not only to get on the right side of one of the major human rights issues of our day, but to address the long overdue subject of the well-being of workers in U.S. prisons and jails.”
Mr. Obama's smart move to reduce solitary confinement, Washington Post. Obinna Woko of Irvington, N.J. spotlights an upcoming conference on the business of incarceration in the U.S. that will include NRCAT's solitary-confinement replica.
Religious Community Responds to Presidential Action on Solitary
- National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- National Council of Churches
- T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- Bend the Arc
- Jesuits
- Islamic Circle of North America
- Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Learn more
What Obama's Actions Mean for Solitary Confinement in America's Prisons, Solitary Watch
Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement, Washington Post
Full Report: United States Department of Justice Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing
