Launch of new “Rights Behind Bars” bill

Ahead of International Human Rights Day and as NY Prisons, Jails, & Forensic Facilities Trample the Rights of People Inside & Their Loved Ones, New Bill Will Restore Family Care Packages, Protect In-Person Visiting, Enforce the HALT Solitary Confinement Law, Combat Officer Brutality, and More

WHAT: People who survived incarceration, family members, and allies will rally alongside Senator Salazar, Assembly Member Forrest, and other lawmakers to launch new state legislation: Rights Behind Bars: Protecting the Rights of People in Prisons, Jails, and Forensic Facilities, and Their Loved Ones, in New York State. New York prisons, jails, and forensic facilities have long been sites of racism, oppression, and abuse. Recent months and years have seen a particularly acute and interconnected trampling on the rights of those inside and their loved ones, including through the ban on family care packages, restrictions on visits, restrictions on photographs and other mail, systematic violations of the HALT Solitary Confinement Law, officer brutality and sexual abuse, and more. The Rights Behind Bars bill aims to address these recent interconnected forms of repression by restoring family care packages, protecting in-person visits, enforcing the HALT Solitary Confinement Law, combatting officer brutality and more. While not covering all rights, and instead those that have been particularly trampled upon recently, the bill would usher in a recognition and acceptance by New York State that the framework of international human rights law should be the guide for understanding the rights of people incarcerated and their families. Ahead of International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, participants will decry the abuses taking place, launch this new bill, and demand immediate action to protect the human rights of all New Yorkers.

WHEN: Today, December 7, 2023 at 10 am

WHERE: Foley Square, NYC

WHO: Senator Salazar, Assembly Member Forrest, other lawmakers, people who have survived incarceration, family members and loved ones, and other allies and organizations including the #HALTsolitary Campaign, Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP), People’s Campaign for Parole Justice, Alliance of Families for Justice, Sing Sing Families Collective, New Hour for Women & Children, Long Island Social Justice Network, Jails Justice Network, and others.