Last week, U.S. Senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Peter Welch introduced the End Solitary Confinement Act, companion legislation to HR 4972 introduced in the House of Representatives by Missouri Rep. Cori Bush in July. This bill would end solitary confinement in all federal custody and incentivize states and localities to do the same.
The End Solitary Confinement Act is a product of years of advocacy and activism from campaigns across the country led by people who have survived solitary and had loved ones inside, and draws from the best policy components of enacted and pending legislation. Specifically, the End Solitary Confinement Act does four key things: End all forms of solitary confinement, ensure that all alternatives to solitary are *actual* alternatives, enhance due process protections, and create oversight and enforcement mechanisms.
Over 175 organizations nationwide have already endorsed the End Solitary Confinement Act and I hope you will as well. Solitary confinement is torture. We must end this barbaric practice. Thanks.
