H.R. 8048
In July, twenty-nine national religious organizations sent this letter to Members of the House of Representatives calling on them to co-sponsor H.R. 8048, the Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Act. NRCAT’s press release about this strong showing of interfaith support for the legislation is available here for sharing. A PDF of the national interfaith letter is available here to download, print, and share.
The Act would create a bipartisan commission to study the effects of solitary confinement in the U.S. prison system at the federal, state, and local levels, and set national standards. The commission would be charged with making recommendations that would end long-term solitary confinement in federal prisons and detention centers and bring the systems into compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules. The legislation also sets aside federal grant funding as an incentive to states that are taking steps to end solitary confinement. Notably, the membership of the proposed commission must consist of at least three formerly incarcerated people or family members of incarcerated people.
NRCAT and our allies in the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce (FAST) are working closely with original co-sponsors Rep. Trone (D-MD) and Rep. Bice (R-OK) in support of this legislation as an important step toward our ultimate goal of ending the torture of isolated confinement once and for all. Your continued support is needed to build strong bipartisan co-sponsorship for this important bill.
