A huge thank you to Open Arms Ministry for hosting a Solitary Confinement Cell Replica through the month of April. Solitary confinement cost 4,500 people a year their human rights as we break with the protocol of United Nations which dictates 15 days or more of solitary confinement amounts to torture.
“Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, Supermax, the hole, Secure Housing Unit… whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by States as a punishment or extortion technique,” said UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez.
Our laws dictate the right to freedom from "cruel and unusual" punishment, yet in New York State we have yet to look at these laws and come to the same conclusion as the rest of the world.
The solitary confinement replica is less than a parking space in size and was made by those who have experienced solitary confinement first hand. The screams of inmates were recorded and played for those who wanted to put themselves into the shoes of what some inmates experience for decades. It is time to end this horrific practice and look towards true rehabilitation for those suffering in our incarceration system. Along with Bail Reform, Raise the Age and Police Accountability it is time for true criminal justice reform in our state and in our country.
