February is and will be a busy month for IAHR.  HB 1244/SB719 which will end prolonged isolation in VA has now passed the House of Delegates Public Safety Committee and will pass to the Approprations Committee next week. Please respond to the action alert below.  
You will also find an Action Alert for the DC Omnibus Crime Bill. The bill has too many provisions which will not help reduce the violence in DC while infringing on civil liberties.
We also have an update on our legislation in MD. We will have more to say about our efforts to promote that legislation next week.  
Finally, please read the articles on NY City ending solitary at Rikers Island and the Prison Policy Initative's Report on how the criminal justice system impacts families.  

Action Alert: Support HB1244/SB719 to End Prolonged Isolation In VA

Action Alert: Oppose the Secure DC Omnibus Crime Bill

Update on the Maryland Solitary Legislation

NYC Ends Solitary Confinement at Rikers Island

PPI: How the Criminal and Legal Child Welfare Systems Cooperate to Punish Families

Action Alert: Support HB 1244/SB719 to End Prolonged Isolation in Virginia

IAHR urges all Virginia residents to support HB 1244 which ends prolonged isolation in Virginia State Prisons. It limits any isolation to no more than 15 consecutive days. HB 1244/SB719 passed the House of Delegates Committee today by a vote of 4-2! It will come before the House Appropriations Committee next week.  

Click on this link  to send a message of support to all the members of the committee. 

Now is a critical moment to push for the Virginia legislature and Governor to restrict the use of Restorative housing and isolated confinement. Please take one minute to urge Virginia lawmakers to enact HB1244/SB719 today. 

Photo from the New Yorker

Click Here to Urge lawmakers to end torture in VA State Prisons!

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Action Alert: Oppose the DC Omnibus Crime Bill

On Tuesday February 6, the DC Council will take its first vote on a bill called the Secure DC Omnibus. Unfortunately, despite multiple expert reports and significant advocacy in favor of proactive, evidence-based interventions, the Secure DC Omnibus bill is focused on short term, punitive tactics. Far too many parts of the bill are overly-broad and/or discredited approaches that are likely to do more harm than good. We urge you to take action against the worst of these measures, and join us in working towards equitable, sustainable public safety. Our task as religious people is not merely to reduce the presence of crime, it is to increase the presence of justice. 

The most important action right now is flooding Council offices with phone calls opposing the worst provisions of the bill. Every call you make matters! Most offices track the number of calls they get, and even share them with each other. 

Sample script:

Hi, My name is _____. I’m a resident of Ward __, and a [member of religious institution], OR [a resident of ______ neighborhood]. I’m calling to ask the Councilmember to support evidence-based measures to create sustainable public safety, not the punitive tactics in the Secure DC Omnibus. Specifically, I’m asking the Councilmember to oppose these provisions: the presumption in favor of pretrial detention; giving MPD authority to establish drug free zones; and reducing the accountability provided by Body-Worn Camera (BWC) footage. 

I believe that each of these measures will do more harm than good. Again, I urge the Councilmember to support effective, community-centered initiatives instead. Thank you.

Click Here for DC Council Members and their Contact Information. 

Click Here to read Paul Butler's Op-Ed criticizing the Omnibus Crime Bill 

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Update on Maryland Solitary Legislation

IAHR along with its coalition partners is readying solitary legislation to be introduced in the upcoming legislative sessions in Maryland and Virginia. Delegate N. Scott Phillips and Senator Mary Washington are the lead sponsors.  

Highlights of the Proposed Legislation

• No one can be placed in isolation for longer than 15 consecutive days during a 60-day period and no more than a total of 18 days during the 60-day period.
• Anyone in restrictive housing must receive a mental health assessment within 24 hours.
• Anyone in restrictive housing must receive 4 hours of out of cell time.
• Mentally ill people with a few exceptions cannot be placed in isolation.
• Incarcerated people can ask to be placed in protective custody for a limited time.

End Long-Term Solitary Confinement in Maryland State Prisons--WHY? 

It’s inhumane. According to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, there should be an absolute ban on restrictive housing (solitary confinement) for longer than 15 days. Isolation longer than 15 days is considered an act of torture. (Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. A/66/268 (August 5, 2011), paragraph 78.)

It costs more money. States that have reduced solitary confinement have experienced significant savings. –
It doesn’t reduce violence; in fact, it may increase violence within and without the prison system.–
It is destructive to the goal of helping prisoners become contributing members of society when they get out.|

Some Facts about Restrictive Housing (Solitary) in Maryland

Nationally, 4-5% of those incarcerated are placed in restrictive housing. According to the 2022 report of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, 25.8% of incarcerated individuals were in restrictive housing (solitary) at least once, 7.5% more than the prior year. The average length of stay in restrictive housing (solitary) was 42.5 days.

In 2022, 135 people were released directly to the community, after spending an average of 59 days in restrictive housing.

As soon as Legislative Services completes the drafting of the bill and as soon as we know the bill number, we will send that to you. We will also send informaton about contacting the House Judiciary Committee.

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NYC Council Overrides Mayor Adams' Vetoes on Legislation to Support Police Transparency and Ban Solitary Confinement

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council voted to override Mayor Adams’ vetoes on Introduction 586-A and Introduction 549-A, with a vote of 42-9.

“Today, the Council answered decades-long calls from communities most impacted by police stops and the harmful legacy of stop-and-frisk, to deliver much-needed transparency to policing and advance true public safety for New Yorkers,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “By collecting and disclosing data on investigative stops, the How Many Stops Act will bring forth a fuller picture of these encounters, fostering accountability and trust between the police and the communities they serve. The Council was also proud to override the Mayor’s veto to ban solitary confinement in city jails and advance a new approach to reduce violence and prioritize safety for both staff and those detained. As government, we have a responsibility to do right by New Yorkers who have been persistently harmed and failed by these unjust policies. We are proud to override the Mayor’s vetoes and hold our government accountable for delivering transparency and true safety to all New Yorkers.”

Click here to read the rest of the press release.  

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PPI: How the Criminal and Child Welfare Systems Cooperate to Punish Families

Child protective service agencies position themselves as providers of welfare, but their relationship to the criminal legal system demonstrates their shared role in punishing families and exacerbating the conditions that lead to system involvement in the first place.

by Emma Peyton Williams, January 8, 2024

The harmful effects of the criminal legal system on children are well-established. For years, evidence has shown that a parent’s involvement with the criminal legal system can harm kids, and incarcerating children has lifelong consequences. We’ve reported on efforts in several states to mitigate the negative impact of the criminal legal system on children but seldom discussed how the criminal legal and child welfare systems are deeply interwoven. A growing number of advocates and experts are bringing these connections to light and are organizing for momentous change. This briefing draws attention to their work to argue that, by expanding our view beyond jails and prisons to include these related systems, advocates and policymakers can safeguard against creating prisons by another name.

Click Here to read the rest of the Report.  

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On behalf of the IAHR Board, we wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year! This month you can read about the extraordinary work of Gay Gardner and Linda Gustitus who have been corresponding for many years with incarcerated people in Virginia State Prisons. They have documented a host of alleged human rights abuses in state prisons. It is an eye-popping report. 

Find out about IAHR's Legislative Advocacy Bootcamp as well as our legislation for the upcoming sessions in Maryland and Virginia. Register for the Maryland Criminal Justice Forum sponsored by the Homewood Friends Meeting. 

You also have an opportunity to meet Lionel Andre, our new board chair, along with the rest of the IAHR Board.

Finally, if you have not done so already, please make a donation to support our efforts to end the abuse of prolonged isolation otherwise known as solitary confinement. 

Report Shows Need for Independent Oversight

Legislative Advocacy Bootcamp in Norfolk

IAHR Prepares for Upcoming MD and VA Legislative Sessions

Maryland Criminal Justice Reform Forum-Jan 21

Lionel Andre, IAHR's New Board Chairperson

Report Shows Need for Independent Oversight

     Drawing from correspondence with more than 600 individuals incarcerated in Virginia prisons, Interfaith Action for Human Rights (IAHR) has released a report (the “Red Report”) calling for significant staffing and authority for independent oversight of the operations of the Virginia prison system. The report summarizes 156 stories divided into 16 different categories of abuse ranging from alleged assaults by prison staff to inadequate health care to ineffective and unreliable redress mechanisms. 

            “You can’t walk away after reading this report,” Rabbi Charles Feinberg, Interim Director of IAHR said, “without concluding that the Virginia Department of Corrections desperately needs robust, independent oversight. June budget legislation took a valuable step in establishing the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman in the Office of the State Inspector General. That office now needs permanent status, with significant funding and meaningful authority, which we urge the General Assembly and Governor Youngkin to enact this year.”

Wallens Ridge State Prison, Pound, VA

            The report, based on the authors’ years of correspondence with hundreds of people held in Virginia prisons and efforts to resolve their complaints, reveals that many of them:

-- endure medical conditions requiring costs to the state and resulting in suffering that could be avoided with prompt and effective medical attention; 

-- feel unsafe in Virginia prisons because of the presence of gangs, drugs, and weapons; and/or

-- are held in unsafe or unsanitary conditions, housed in units subject to extreme temperatures and/or lacking access to a nutritionally adequate diet; and that

-- everyone housed in a Virginia prison is at the mercy of prison officials who have the power by accusation to reduce their access to programming, increase their security level, remove them from the general prison population, and reduce their ability to earn credits that can take time off their sentence.” 

Click here to read the rest of the Executive Summary. 
Click here to read the full report.
For more Information, contact Gay Gardner at 703-627-6482 and Linda Gustitus at 202-557-8867. 

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Legislative Advocacy Bootcamp

Help us end solitary. Learn to be an effective advocate! Join us in Norfolk.

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IAHR Prepares for Upcoming MD and VA Legislative Sessions

IAHR along with its coalition partners is readying solitary legislation to be introduced in the upcoming legislative sessions in Maryland and Virginia.   

Overview of a solitary cell

Here is a list of six important provisions in the legislation that will limit solitary in Maryland and Virginia state prisons:   

• Defining Restrictive Housing: The bill provides a clear definition of restrictive housing as any form of physical separation where an incarcerated individual is confined in a room or cell for over seventeen hours within a twenty-four-hour period.
  
  
• Residential Rehabilitation Units: It establishes separate housing units designed for therapy, treatment, and rehabilitative programming as alternatives to restrictive housing. These units aim to avoid physical isolation, offering a minimum of seven hours daily for group programming, activities, or recreation.
  
  
• De-escalation Practices: The bill emphasizes implementing established de-escalation practices to diminish conflict intensity or potential danger within correctional facilities.
  
  
• Protective Custody for Vulnerable Individuals: It outlines the protection of vulnerable individuals, including those under 26 or over 55 years old, individuals with disabilities, diagnosed mental health conditions, serious medical conditions unsuitable for isolated confinement, and pregnant or postpartum individuals.
  
  
• Limitations and Review Procedures: The bill sets limits on the duration of restrictive housing for certain offenses and mandates a thorough review process, including a secondary review for individuals classified as vulnerable to prevent their placement or immediate removal from restrictive housing.
  
  
• Training Requirements: It stipulates mandatory training hours for personnel supervising incarcerated individuals in restrictive housing units, focusing on trauma-induced care, and annual training updates. Additionally, it requires specific training for hearing officers regarding trauma-informed care, the effects of restrictive housing, due process rights of incarcerated individuals, and restorative justice remedies before presiding over related hearings.

In Virginia, Delegate Joshua Cole is the lead patron of the solitary legislation. In Maryland, coalition members are working hard to identify a delegate and senator who will sponsor the bill.  Once the bills are finalized and assigned a bill number, we will be sending you that information along with a link to the bill.

If you would like to get involved, please reach out to Natasha White, IAHR's Director of Community Engagement.

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Maryland Justice Reform Forum
Sunday, January 16 @ 3 pm

Ombudsman, Solitary Confinement, and other bills

Homewood Friends Meeting 
3107 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
In-person & via Zoom

Register (for in-person participation or via Zoom)
Click here for more information

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Lionel Andre, IAHR's New Board Chairperson

Lionel André is a highly experienced litigator who has spent over thirty-five years addressing government investigation and white-collar issues. He brings unique and significant work experience of over thirteen years of SEC investigation and litigation experience and over sixteen years of DOJ criminal trial experience. 

Lionel served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he served as Senior Litigation Counsel and Health Care Fraud Coordinator in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section. Prior to that, Lionel spent time at the United States Securities & Exchange Commission as Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel. 

Currently, Lionel defends clients in securities enforcement matters, securities litigation, and white-collar criminal cases. He also conducts internal investigations, participates in Monitorships, and assists companies with updating their compliance programs. Lionel, who immigrated from Haiti at the age of five, is extremely passionate about protecting human rights in the United States and abroad. He serves on the Board of Directors of three non-profit organizations.

Click here to meet the entire IAHR Board

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This is an exciting month of transition for IAHR. We will be celebrating Rabbi Feinberg's stewardship of the organization on October 27. We will also be welcoming Rev David Lindsey as the new Executive Director. Rabbi Feinberg will stay on until the end of December of this year while Rev Lindsey orients himself to the organization: its staff, volunteers, and supporters.  

We are featuring three important articles for you to read. The first is an opinion piece written by Natasha White, IAHR's Director of Community Engagement. In the article she describes a major obstacle to the study on solitary confinement that the Virginia Legislature commissioned last winter. Stay tuned for further developments.

We are also presenting a beautiful and moving sermon on solitary that Jeanne Marcus, an IAHR pen pal, delivered recently at Church.

Finally, we are featuring an article that Sara Watson, also an IAHR pen pal, pointed out to me. The article describes another pen pal project that the NY Times journalist, Emily Bazelon, initiated to address serious issues that incarcerated people have brought to her attention. The article points out the importance of writing to people in prison.  

4th Annual Human Rights at the Prison Door
Introducing Rev. David Lindsey
Promised Study of Solitary in  VA Prisons Will Fail to Meet Professional Standard
"Do Not Forget To Show Hospitality to Strangers"
NY Times: The Prison Letters Project

Introducing Rev David Lindsey, IAHR's Next Executive Director

Interfaith Action for Human Rights (IAHR) is delighted to introduce the Rev. Dr. David B. Lindsey as our next Executive Director. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), Rev. Lindsey has worked for a more just and fairer world throughout his two decades of ministry. Most recently, he served as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington. Before that, he pastored churches in Northern Virginia, Minneapolis, and Southern California. Throughout that time, he has cultivated a relational and narrative approach to leadership, one that was shaped by his work in grass-roots advocacy work in Minnesota.  

Rev. Lindsey became well-acquainted with the criminal justice system in the mid-Atlantic during his tenure as the Senior Pastor at Little River United Church of Christ in Annandale, Virginia. In 2017, Little River UCC was attacked by a neo-Nazi after proudly and publicly displaying an IAHR banner speaking out against Islamophobia. “This incident was traumatic for the congregation,” Rev. Lindsey writes, “yet we found comfort, hope, and solidarity in the people of so many diverse faiths (and of no particular faith) who rallied around us at the time.” In the months that followed, Rev. Lindsey interacted with local, state, and federal authorities, including police, district attorneys and elected officials. Rev. Lindsey had seen family and friends struggle with the criminal justice system in his native Kentucky, as well as visiting the incarcerated throughout his career, but this experience in Northern Virginia opened his eyes to the systemic challenges in the mid-Atlantic region.

 Throughout his career he has been known for his embrace of diversity and his passion for justice. He has extensive experience in social media, communications, development, and the arts. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Claremont School of Theology in California and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Chicago Theological Seminary.

Promised Study of Solitary in Virginia Prisons Will Fail to Meet Professional Standards

By Natasha White
Virginia Director of Community Engagement
Interfaith Action for Human Rights

Earlier this year the Virginia Legislature opted to require a study of prisoners in solitary confinement in its state prisons in lieu of legislation to restrict such confinement to no more than 15 days.  The study, which is required by law to be completed by December 1st, is supposed to be a collaboration of the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), formerly incarcerated individuals, and public interest groups as represented by the Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement, a group of organizations working to limit solitary confinement in Virginia..  The intent is for representatives of these three groups to interview a minimum of 25 persons currently held in solitary confinement (referred to as Restorative Housing Units or RHU by the Department of Corrections) and report their findings to the state legislature. 

That study has the promise of showing the true practices going on inside VDOC facilities by documenting how, why, and when “restorative housing” is being used within their facilities. 

In doing studies like this, on what researchers call “human subjects,” both federal and state law require an external review board, which can be an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or a Human Subject Research Review Committee (HSRRC).  IRBs and HSRRCs were created for researchers to have third-party reviewers check their work to ensure they are abiding by the highest legal, ethical, and moral standards. These standards were developed out of experience with the Nuremberg trials, the infamous study using unwitting Tuskegee Airmen, and other studies where researchers disregarded the human character of their subjects.

When the Coalition insisted at these meetings that the VDOC study include an IRB to meet acceptable research standards, VDOC refused.  The Coalition’s position was not simply a layperson’s opinion but the unanimous agreement of our lawyers and research professionals, including Dr. Robert Kinscherff, Ph.D., JD, Harvard Professor, and Executive Director of The Center for Law, Brain, & Behavior.

VDOC’s position on using an IRB for this important study is in sharp contrast to the response the coalition received from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) on a similar matter.  The bill authorizing the study of “restorative housing” also called for DJJ to work with coalition members to document the usage of “restorative housing” in their facilities.  The coalition and DJJ were able to execute a plan of study within one meeting, and the DJJ themselves were adamant about the presence of an external review board. 

Due to the VDOC’s refusal of an IRB, the Coalition has paused its participation in the mandated study on “restorative housing.” We, unlike VDOC, believe we are legally, ethically, and morally bound to put the safety of incarcerated people first.  Foregoing the study, or proceeding with the study without an IRB, denies the Virginia legislature the information they have sought and need to go forward on addressing the dire situation of solitary confinement in Virginia prisons. And, the real-life consequence is that many incarcerated individuals will continue to suffer.

As a formerly incarcerated survivor of solitary, I know from my personal experience the life- time effects of long-term confinement and especially solitary confinement. I know that there will be more preventable deaths and suicides. I know that people will continue to deteriorate mentally, spiritually, and physically. I know that this will make everyday life a thousand times harder for them and their loved ones. I know that when you stand by and allow your government to torture (as the United Nations Rapporteur on Torture defines solitary confinement over 15 days) its own citizens and then release them back into the community, you have not only participated in that torture, but you have damaged the entire community.

If there is going to be a study, it needs to be done right.

"Do Not Forget To Show Hospitality to Strangers"

Jeanne Marcus
[email protected]
September 22, 2022

This article is adapted from a worship sharing given within a small Christian community on September 8, 2022, based on a portion of the Bible
appointed to be read for that week¹

 ^“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.  Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

This scriptural advice to Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, was like an alert light asking me to pay attention.  For the last 2 ½ years, I have been writing to several incarcerated men, mostly in Maryland state prisons. Each person has had different experiences and will have different outcomes. One is back home on parole, and is thriving—taking classes at the university, and with a job paying a fair wage. Another will be heading home just after the new year after decades away.   I have valued each of these correspondences, and have been blessed by them.

Earlier this year, at the beginning of March, I first wrote to Tyrone.  Tyrone is imprisoned at a Maryland correctional facility located in Allegany County in rural Western Maryland.  The facility is 135 miles from downtown Silver Spring or midtown Baltimore City, longer to most points in Prince George’s County. It is just a few blocks from a point on Maryland’s border with West Virginia. Allegheny County is 88 % White, 9% Black.

In my second letter, I invited Tyrone to write about anything that was on his mind. He started his next letter to me: He needed to get help to get out of his situation. He is in solitary confinement in that prison.  

Since reading this letter, I’ve given a lot of attention to learning about Tyrone’s situation: about the facility in Western Maryland, and about solitary confinement.  The scriptural instruction I quoted urged me to remember Tyrone as if I were together with him in prison: it made all I’d learned much more personal—taking it from being cerebral to being more visceral.

The institution where Tyrone is being held has been described proudly as a "hyper-max prison."   At the time construction was finished in 2007, it was said to be one of the most technologically advanced prisons in the world.

If I were coming onto the grounds, I would first pass through the outer fence, 15 miles of fence covered with rolls upon rolls upon rolls of razor wire rising out of the flat land. I’d see the master control tower in the middle of the complex.  I have read that the control tower has an unobstructed view of every point on the entire grounds, as well as complete surveillance over CCTV of every area accessed by inmates. The tower has control over all security doors, cameras, and even the flow of water into individual cells. 

If I were sitting with Tyrone in his cell, we would be in a space that is 60 square feet. This is the size of a very small parking space. That small amount of space is made more claustrophobic by the fact that the cell door is not made of bars: it is made of solid steel. It has a window of bullet-proof glass. There is a slot in the door to pass meals through; or through which guards can shackle a person’s hands.

There is one short wide window to the outside that lets in light but does not allow views of the outside. The concrete cells are constructed offsite so that there are no seams or imperfections that, in theory, could conceivably hide contraband. The concrete is coated with a strong epoxy paint that, it is said, even acid couldn’t break through.

The beds are bolted directly into the concrete and the bolts are rounded down so they cannot be removed. Storage is a space under the bed.  The toilet/sink is stainless steel; there is a steel shelf that serves as a table.²

Even imagining that I’m hearing the steel door with the bullet-proof window clanging closed behind me creates anxiety. Not only is there no physical escape, but it feels like the space also seeks to allow no mental escape.

But the horrific thing is: this is the space that Tyrone must remain in for 23 hours a day, each and every day.

Click here to read the rest of the sermon.

¹Letter to the Hebrews 13:2-3

²Physical description: Big, Bigger, Biggest. Season 3, Episode 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRJM0uMljpA

The Prison Letters Project

Emily Bazelon knew she would receive more letters after the exoneration of Yutico Briley. With the help of a group of students at Yale Law School, their claims of innocence will be heard.

Yutico Briley was exonerated after corresponding with Emily Bazelon, a staff writer for the magazine.Credit...Ruddy Roye for The New York Times