October 8, 2020

Contact: Jerome Wright, jwright@nycaic.org

***STATEMENT***

#HALTsolitary ORGANIZER JEROME WRIGHT

HAILS ERIE COUNTY RESOLUTION BACKING

THE H.A.L.T. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT ACT

(Buffalo, NY) — Today, Jerome Wright, Statewide Organizer for the #HALTsolitary Campaign and a survivor of seven years in solitary confinement, released the following statement on the bi-partisan passage by the Erie County Legislature of a resolution calling on the New York State Legislature and Governor Cuomo to enact the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (S1623/A2500):

“Today, I am a proud member of the Erie County community following the successful vote by our local legislature to join our fight to win basic human rights for people in prisons and jails by ending the torture of long-term solitary confinement. After years of advocacy by the Western New York Chapter of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, Chairwoman April Baskin and Public Safety Chairperson Howard Johnson put forth a resolution backing the HALT Solitary Confinement Act and, thanks to them and their colleagues, it has finally passed. We also appreciate the comments by Republican Legislator John Mills, who spoke out in favor of HALT. I am personally thankful, after spending more than seven years in solitary myself, that our local legislators were courageous, empathetic and progressive enough to support an end to the torture of people in Erie County jails, most of whom are there pre-trial because they can’t afford money bail, and in prisons across New York State. This resolution is monumental in this time in our nation’s history, amid protests against police brutality and systemic racism. We are addressing one of the issues that plagues our community. Hopefully now we can put an end to this chamber of living death that has destroyed the lives and spirits of so many New Yorkers.”

Led by survivors of solitary confinement and family members of those who have died in solitary, the #HALTsolitary Campaign fights to abolish this torture.

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BACKGROUND

With the passage of this resolution, Erie County has officially joined the Tompkins County Legislature and the New York City Council in calling on the state to pass HALT.

As massive numbers of people have risen up to demand that the state stop killing Black people and other People of Color in the streets and behind bars, there is an ongoing and deadly scourge of racial bias in New York State prisons that has never been addressed. While Black people represent only 18% of all New Yorkers, 48% of people in New York State prisons are Black people and 57% of people in solitary confinement are Black people. Likewise, over 80% of the people who have died in prison since the outbreak of COVID-19 are People of Color (59% are Black people). Thanks to efforts led by survivors of solitary and their family members, there are more than enough votes to pass the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (S1623/A2500) in the New York State Legislature. An analysis shows HALT will save money.

• Research shows solitary confinement causes immense suffering, devastating physical and mental harm, and far too commonly leads to psychosis, heart disease, self-mutilation, and death.
• Despite the known harms of even the shortest periods of time in solitary, New York State regularly holds people - disproportionately Black people and other People of Color - in solitary for months, years, and decades. New York’s use of solitary confinement actually increased after Governor Cuomo claimed to have implemented reforms in 2015, with more than 38,000 solitary sentences in 2018 and 81% of people in solitary being Black and/or Latinx.
• The #HALTsolitary campaign recently released a devastating new report documenting a surge in suicide and self-harm in New York prisons, driven by solitary confinement. A total of 18 people died by suicide in NY prisons alone in 2019, the highest rate since at least 2000 and a rate 88% higher than the national average.
• Experts agree that the sensory deprivation, lack of normal interaction, and extreme idleness of solitary can lead to severe psychological, physical, and even neurological damage.
• New Cornell research found that even a few days in solitary confinement – and even only one or two days of solitary – led to significantly heightened risk of death by accident, suicide, violence, and other causes.
• One study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that solitary confinement is associated with a 31% increase in hypertension. Approximately one-in-three people in solitary who participated in the study were more likely to experience heart attacks, strokes, and – unsurprisingly – higher degrees of loneliness, which also contributes to heart disease.
• Another study found solitary confinement is associated with increased rates of death after release, particularly by suicide as well as overdose.
• During the current pandemic, the harm and spread of the virus has been exacerbated by the failure to release people from prison and by the state’s medically inappropriate and dangerous use of solitary confinement in lieu of medical care & quarantine in contravention of health experts’ recommendations.
• While Governor Cuomo has put forward proposed regulations on solitary confinement, an analysis shows these regulations will continue to allow people to be held in solitary for months and years, including for minor infractions.

Learn more at www.nycaic.org.