State Lawmakers Vote to Restrict Solitary Confi nement
Measure limits segregated housing to 15 days; some populations exempt entirely
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The State Senate on
March 18 passed the
HALT Solitary Confi nement
Act, which would
curtail the use of solitary confi nement
to 15 days and require therapy
and other rehabilitative solutions
to be offered to inmates.
The bill, also known as the Humane
Alternatives to Long-Term
Solitary Confi nement Act, which
already cleared the Assembly,
would provide people who are incarcerated
with more alternatives
to solitary confi nement, including
less time in isolation and access
to group housing facilities such as
Residential Rehabilitation Units
(RRU). Under the legislation, inmates
would not be denied treatment
or basic needs such as clothing,
food, and bedding.
For the state’s most vulnerable
incarcerated populations, solitary
confi nement would end immediately.
According to the legislation’s
text, the HALT Solitary Confi nement
Act would prevent the use
of solitary confi nement for people
who are disabled, caring for children,
pregnant or up to eight
weeks postpartum, under the age
of 21, or above the age of 55. The
state would also ban solitary confi
nement ahead of disciplinary
hearings, and inmates would be
allowed to speak with a lawyer.
Under the HALT Solitary Confi
nement Act, there would be
stricter protocols for prison staffers.
Before working at a confi nement
unit, employees would be
mandated to complete 37 hours
and 30 minutes of training and 21
more hours yearly after being assigned
to a facility.
This bill’s passage comes nearly
two years after the 2019 death of
Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-
Polanco, an Afro-Latinx transgender
woman who was left alone by
guards at Rikers while she experienced
a fatal health emergency.
She was in “restrictive housing,”
which is a form of solitary confi nement.
Melania Brown, Polanco’s
sister, has been a leading voice in
LEGAL
Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco’s sister, Melania Brown, has been a leading advocate against solitary confi nement since her sister’s death in 2019.
the effort to eradicate solitary confi
nement in the state.
“My sister was full of life,” Brown
said after the Assembly passed the
HALT Solitary Confi nement Act.
“She was an angel. She was a healing
person. She did not deserve to
die that way. I will continue her
fi ght. I will continue her legacy. If I
can save one life by helping to pass
HALT, that brings me joy.”
The legislation’s lead sponsor,
State Senator Julia Salazar of
Brooklyn, the chair of the Senate
Committee on Crime Victims,
Crime and Correction, noted that
providing inmates with stronger
protections is long overdue.
“It is no secret that the use of
solitary confi nement is inhumane,
unethical, and constitutes torture
under international law if it
extends more than fi fteen days,”
Salazar said in a written statement.
“The passage of HALT in the
Senate brings us one step closer to
bringing justice to all those who
have lost loved ones to the wrongful
use of solitary, and the New
Yorkers who have been victims of
this state-sanctioned torture.”
Out gay Senator Jabari Brisport
of Brooklyn also welcomed the
legislation’s passage in the upper
chamber.
“It is cruel and dehumanizing,
and the fact that it has so long
been an accepted tool of our incarceral
system speaks miles about
the fundamental nature of that
system,” Brisport said in a written
statement. “HALT is a victory for
human rights and a step towards
a more just future.”
Advocates — including those
who experienced solitary confi nement
— also hailed the legislation’s
passage as a step forward in the effort
to provide more humane conditions
for incarcerated individuals.
“Freedom from torture is the
most basic of human rights, and
yet every year tens of thousands
of New Yorkers are subjected to it
in the form of solitary confi nement
for weeks, months, years, and even
decades,” said Jerome Wright, who
spent seven years in solitary confi
nement and is now a statewide
organizer with the #HALTSolitary
campaign. “Today the New York
Senate passed the HALT Solitary
Confi nement Act, bringing our
state closer to the goal of protecting
the human rights of incarcerated
people.”
Jovada Senhouse of VOCAL-NY,
who spent four months in solitary
confi nement, also praised the legislation
while also stressing the
importance of continuing ongoing
advocacy to ensure incarcerated
MATT TRACY
individuals are treated with dignity.
“I am so happy to see the Senate
pass this bill and now Cuomo
must sign it!” Senhouse said. “But
we aren’t stopping — we need Elder
Parole and the Fair and Timely
Parole Act to restore the right to
vote for incarcerated and formerly
incarcerated people and to provide
a path for people to challenge
wrongful convictions.”
Jose Saldana, the director of
the Release Aging People in Prison
Campaign, urged the governor to
waste no time in signing the bill
into law.
“Thousands of New Yorkers have
paid for this bill to become the law,
some with their lives, many others
with their mental, emotional and
spiritual health,” Saldana said.
“Today is a good day for justice,
and for all New Yorkers.”
Earlier this month, New York
City’s Board of Correction (BOC)
released a proposal to end solitary
confi nement by November and replace
it with a Risk Management
Accountability Plan, allowing inmates
10 hours or more outside of
a cell, fi ve hours of “daily programming,”
as well as access to case
management services, including
mental healthcare and a support
team.
GayCityNews.com | MARCH 25 - APRIL 7 , 2021 5
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