Justice reformers push New York to ‘halt’ solitary confinement in statewide rallies

Justice reform organizers across the state rallied to end the use of solitary confinement in New York. Image via Zoom conference

By David Brand

Justice reform activists and organizations from the Bronx to Buffalo participated in a coordinated series of rallies on Wednesday to urge New York to enact legislation curbing the use of solitary confinement.

The bill, known as the Human Alternatives to Long-term, or HALT, Solitary Confinement Act is sponsored by veteran Queens Assemblymember Jeff Aubry.

Advocates gathered outside Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York City office in Manhattan, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ office in Yonkers, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office in the Bronx, the State Capitol in Albany, Tompkins Public Library in Ithaca, Niagara Square in Buffalo and the State Office Building in Happaugue. 

The events were simulcast via Zoom.

In 2019, Aubry wrote an op-ed for the Eagle calling on the state to enact his bill in light of a United Nations determination that solitary confinement beyond 15 days is “torture.”

“Yet in our state, thousands of people each day, and tens of thousands each year, continue to be locked in solitary,” he wrote. “People continue to be held for months and years in conditions no human being should endure.”

“It’s time for all of us in state government to ask ourselves: if not now, when?” he added.