The 2018 Episcopal General Convention resolution, D029 Condemning Prolonged Solitary Confinement as a Form of Torture, calls on all Episcopalians to amplify their voice in solidarity with human rights groups, the United Nations, and others to end prolonged solitary confinement.
In the May 18 primary, Allegheny County will vote on whether or not to restrict the use of solitary confinement at the County Jail, where inmates are now sometimes being confined to a small bathroom-sized space 20 hours a day (without books or TV or the internet) for months at a time. This increases mental health problems in people, more than two-thirds of whom are already fighting psychiatric disabilities or substance abuse disorders. The county jail has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation.
To give more background on this issue, the diocesan Social Justice and Outreach Committee and Commission on Race and Reconciliation are presenting a Zoom forum on Sunday May 16, at 7:30 pm, with Jules Lobel, the Walthour Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, speaking on “What’s Wrong with Prolonged Solitary Confinement?”
Professor Lobel, former head of the Center for Constitutional Rights, argued against Ohio’s use of solitary confinement before the US Supreme Court and has coedited Solitary Confinement (Oxford University Press). There may be another speaker who has personally experienced solitary confinement.
Link to join the Zoom meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87209176721?pwd=UkFhOHQ2TUhTNjZuUE14aTN4KzV0dz09
If requested: Meeting ID: 872 0917 6721 Passcode: 049909
Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)
–Photo by Wendy Alvarez on Unsplash