Open Letter to Mayor Elect Eric Adams
Solitary confinement is considered by the United Nations, human rights organizations, and medical and mental health experts to be a form of torture. It causes intense suffering and has taken the lives of countless New Yorkers, including Layleen Polanco, Kalief Browder, and Brandon Rodriguez.
Evidence also indicates that solitary leads to more violence and that alternative forms of separation involving full days of out-of-cell programming and engagement actually improve safety. We, the undersigned, urge you, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, to respect the sanctity of human life, and reverse the pro-solitary confinement position he announced on Thursday, December 16th.
New York City will never torture our way to safety.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Caban, District 22
Sandy Nurse, District 37
Shahana Hanif, District 39
Carlina Rivera, District 2
Erik Bottcher, District 3
Keith Powers, District 4
Diana Ayala, District 8
Gale A. Brewer, District 6
Christopher Marte, District 1
Eric Dinowitz, District 11
Charles Barron, District 42
Farah Louis, District 45
Pierina Sanchez, District 14
Amanda Farias, District 18
Shekar Krishnan, District 25
Alexa Aviles, District 38
Jen Gutierrez, District 34
Carmen de la Rosa, District 10
Althea Stevens, District 16
Chi Osse, District 36
Julie Won, District 26
Kristin Richardson Jordan, District 9
Nantasha Williams, District 27
Lincoln Restler, District 33
Crystal Hudson, District 35
Rita Joseph, District 40
Kevin Riley, District 12
Mercedes Narcisse, District 46
Selvena Brooks-Powers, District 31
