TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE
For Immediate Release: June 19, 2012
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or cell: (202) 215-9260 or
samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com

Religious coalition responds to first-ever Congressional hearing on
prolonged solitary confinement
Hundreds of religious leaders and people of faith nationwide conclude 23-hour
fast drawing attention to the harm caused by prolonged solitary confinement
Washington, D.C. – A group of religious leaders today ended a 23-hour nationwide fast at 12
p.m. at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill, interceding on behalf of the tens of
thousands of American prisoners currently housed in solitary confinement across the country.
The fast was held in conjunction with a Senate hearing on the use of solitary confinement in U.S.
prisons. Today’s hearing was the first time Congress has explored this issue.
The religious leaders who were gathered in Washington represented hundreds of people of faith
across the country who took part in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s “23Hour Fast to End 23-Hour Solitary.” The length of the fast symbolized the 23 hours per day
inmates are typically required to spend in solitary confinement cells. As evidenced by recent
prisoner hunger strikes in Virginia and California, refusing food is one of the few means
prisoners across the country have to protest their conditions in solitary confinement. The fast
was intended to draw attention to the physical, emotional and psychological harm caused by
prolonged solitary confinement.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has been effective in its efforts to limit the
use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of
NRCAT, issued the following statement in response to today’s hearing:
The Subcommittee’s evaluation of the impact of the federal system’s use of solitary
confinement on prisoners, correctional staff, our budget, and society at large, clearly
demonstrates that the pervasive use of prolonged solitary confinement is wrong both
morally and economically.
Tens of thousands of prisoners across the nation are held 23 or even 24 hours a day in
small cells with no natural light and no meaningful contact with staff or other prisoners.
We confine people in these isolated conditions for weeks, years, even decades on end,

despite research consistently demonstrating that the severe psychological effects,
particularly among children and the mentally ill, are devastating.
The inherent God-given dignity of each human being does not disappear once behind
prison gates. Our fast is only a means to be faithful to God’s calling for justice, but it is
not our end. Our hunger for change will not let up until we see an end to this horror.
We give thanks that we are breaking bread after the first-ever Congressional hearing on
solitary confinement. However, we pray that Congress not only reassesses solitary
confinement, but like a growing number of states across the nation, takes significant
action toward ending this harmful, costly, and ineffective practice.

A group of religious leaders of various faiths come together June 19, 2012, at the United Methodist
Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to break bread to end a 23-hour fast demonstrating
opposition to prolonged solitary confinement. The fast was organized by the National Religious
Campaign Against Torture, and hundreds of people of faith across the country participated. The breaking
of the fast followed the end of the first ever Congressional hearing on solitary confinement. From left to
right: Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture; Rabbi
Rachel Kahn-Troster, Director of North American Programs, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America;
Dave Louden, Chief of Staff, Justice Fellowship/Prison Fellowship Ministries; Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson

II, Director, Presbyterian Church and Office of Public Witness; and Linda Gustitus, President, National
Religious Campaign Against Torture.
Credit: Ron Sachs

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a membership organization committed
to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in
January 2006, 315 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the
Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national
denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations. More information is
available at www.nrcat.org. View NRCAT’s 20-minute film, “Solitary Confinement: Torture in Your
Backyard,” by visiting www.nrcat.org/backyard.

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