Representative Adriano Espaillat Again Leads New York City Delegation in Calling for an End to Solitary Confinement

WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) led all Democratic members of the New York City congressional delegation in a letter to New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, echoing their support to ban solitary confinement in New York City. This is the second such letter led by Rep. Espaillat, who sent a similar letter to former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson in December of 2021.

“In New York City jails, as in jurisdictions across the nation, solitary confinement is known to impose severe suffering and deterioration on an individual’s mental and physical well-being,” wrote Rep. Espaillat. “Solitary confinement causes heart disease, anxiety, depression, psychosis, and self-mutilation. Prolonged exposure is directly linked to grave outcomes, including death—a fact which New York City’s prisons are no stranger to. The continued use of solitary confinement,” said Espaillat, “makes our City’s jails less safe, especially for Black New Yorkers, who account for approximately 49% of the population in state prisons and 61% of those held in solitary confinement.”

The letter follows a report by the Correctional Association of New York from earlier this year, which cited the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s overall lack of adherence and failure to implement New York state’s current statute, the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which places limits and restrictions on the practice of solitary confinement in state prisons, prompting the need for additional action at the federal and local levels.

In addition to Rep. Espaillat, the letter was signed by all 10 Democratic members of the New York City congressional delegation, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) , Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Jerold Nadler (NY-12), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Grace Meng (NY-06), and New York City’s newest congressional delegation member, Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10).

“Solitary confinement has been repeatedly proven to deteriorate the physical and mental wellbeing of inmates who are forced to endure it, especially those subjected to confinement for long periods of time. The damage inflicted by solitary confinement hinders formerly incarcerated individuals’ ability to effectively rejoin society at the end of their sentence. As a member of the Congressional Second Chance Task Force,” said Rep. Goldman, “I know that by eliminating solitary confinement in New York City’s jails, we will improve rates of rehabilitation and reduce recidivism in a fairer, more humane criminal justice system.” 

Akeem Browder, founder of the Kalief Browder Foundation, also applauded the efforts of the New York City congressional delegation, stating “We are grateful to Congressman Espaillat and the full New York City House of Representatives delegation for voicing their support for New York City ending solitary confinement. Since that torturous practice killed my brother Kalief eight and a half years ago, more and more people have been tortured and killed, and more and more families have had to suffer like mine. We look forward to the City Council enacting local legislation to forever end solitary once and for all.”

Read the letter to Speaker Adrienne Adams in its entirety here.

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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.

Media inquiries: Candace Person at Candace.Person@mail.house.gov