Please RSVP Here: Journey to Justice Bus Tour Comes to NY Next Week!
The Journey to Justice Bus Tour continues to move across the country! With powerful events already in California, Washington State, Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, next up is Michigan and then NEW YORK!
Please register here to join in Buffalo, Mt. Kisco, and NYC from Oct 20 to Oct 23 to honor those who have been killed by by the carceral system and demand that New York state and local officials and lawmakers end solitary confinement, stop sending people to deadly prisons, jails, and detention, create meaningful pathways for release from incarceration, protect our immigrant communities, and uphold the human rights of all New Yorkers.
- Oct. 20: Buffalo: Elim Christian Fellowship Church, 70 Chalmers Ave, 12 pm Press Conference, 12 pm – 9 pm bus exhibit
- Oct. 22: Mt. Kisco: Mt. Kisco Presbyterian Church, 605 Millwood Rd, 4:30 pm bus exhibit opens; 7:30 pm community conversation
- Oct. 23: NYC: Harlem State Office Building, 163 West 125th Street. Rally at 10 am and bus exhibit until 4 pm
Please register today to join the HALT Solitary Campaign, Jails Action Coalition, Unlock the Box, Look 2 Justice, NRCAT, JJN, VOCAL, Mothers on the Inside, and other allies: bit.ly/NYJourney2Justice. Download and share a flyer here.
If you are interested in volunteering for any parts of these three days, please email caicadvocacyday@gmail.com.
These actions are the New York State portion of a national Journey to Justice Bus Tour led by Unlock the Box and Look 2 Justice. See the full schedule here. The Journey to Justice bus is a mobile hub for change, featuring a life-sized solitary cell model, VR experiences, a photo exhibit of survivors, and creative spaces for sharing stories. A centerpiece of the Journey to Justice tour is soon-to-be-released book: “Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement” by currently incarcerated author Christopher W. Blackwell, Prof. Deborah Zalesne, Dr. Terry Kupers, and Kwaneta Harris. You can order your copy of the book here.
Tonight at 7:30: The Wright Report
Listen in tonight, Tues., Oct. 14 at 7:30 pm to Jerome Wright on Think Twice Radio. Jerome will continue presenting on Tuesdays all this month at https://www.facebook.com/ThinkTwiceRadioStreaming or https://www.youtube.com/@RichardWicka/streams. Tune in to learn more about the crisis of torture and brutality of NY prisons.
Please Sign Letter to HALT Solitary
Please sign onto this letter to demand implementation of the HALT Solitary Law.
As a reminder: supermajorities of both houses of New York’s state legislature and the previous Governor enacted the HALT Solitary Law in 2021 and it took effect in 2022. The law itself has saved lives and reduced harm: the law led to the closure of an all-solitary prison, reduced time spent in SHU to 15 days, reduced the number of people in SHU from thousands per day to hundreds per day, and helped free people who had spent decades in solitary.
At the same time, NY prisons and jails have been systemically violating nearly every core component of HALT from day one, including by locking people with disabilities in solitary, operating supposed alternatives as solitary by another name by denying people legally required out-of-cell time, and locking people in solitary for reasons prohibited by the law. At least threemajorlawsuits have found NY prisons in violation of the HALT Solitary law, yet the prisons continue to defy court orders and multiple additional lawsuits are still pending. These violations have only worsened after officers unconscionably killed Robert Brooks and fellow officers illegally walked off their jobs to distract from increased scrutiny of racist officer brutality. Please see this recent complaint filed with the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and on Extrajudicial Executions (with press coverage in City & State and on ABC News).
Now, to try to skirt litigation they have lost, the entities who inflict this torture – namely the prison administration and staff – want to gut core components of the HALT Solitary Law and thereby expand the use of solitary, cause grave harm, and worsen safety for everyone. Please see the HALT Campaign’s press release and more detailed response.
We are asking for your partnership to sign and have any group/org you’re a part of sign this letter to support the HALT Solitary Law and demand its implementation: bit.ly/HALTsolitary2025
People’s UPR Oct 23 Outside United Nations
From our allies: In August, the United States announced that it will not participate in the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council. This would mark the first time in UPR history that a UN Member State does not participate. Although the government has decided on its own that participation in the UPR is not necessary, the People’s UPR will ensure that civil society voices are illuminated.
Church Center of the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza
Testimony: 12-2:30
Press Conference: 4 pm
Register here for in-person or livestream attendance.
Ithaca Film Screening & Conference, Oct 24-25
From our allies in Ithaca: please join: Incarceration–We are not in the same boat, but we are in the same storm: Let’s link our Lifeboats! (Oct. 24 & 25). Please register here.
Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25, 2025
St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, 116 Cleveland Ave., Ithaca, NY
Film screening and Upstate NY convening for networking and building skills for organizing and community empowerment. With special guest Dolores Canales, co-founder of California Families Against Solitary Confinement; Secretary of the Probation Oversight Commission; Community Outreach Director for the Bail Project. Ms. Canales is featured in The Strike film which will be shown Friday evening October 24 with remarks before the film and Q and A to follow with Jerome Wright.
Saturday October 25 is a full day of speakers — including welcoming back the mother of Robert Brooks, Mary Brooks — for organizing discussions and networking to revitalize our collective power to:
- Stop the torture of solitary confinement
- Build skills to mobilize locally to end mass incarceration statewide
- Stop brutality in local jails and NYS prisons
- Link movements against racism and state violence
Convened by CNY Communities for Families for Justice, Phoebe Brown (Ithaca), community activist for families impacted by incarceration and Ithaca Common Council alderperson and Jerome Wright (Buffalo), co-founder and co-director of NYS CAIC/HALT Solitary Campaign and NYS Jails Justice Network–as well as our endorsing organizations: Tompkins County Showing Up for Racial Justice, the Ithaca Catholic Workers, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation-Finger Lakes. Endorsed by AntiRacists in Enfield (ARE)
Contact Phoebe Brown about co-sponsorship at mxbishop@gmail.com.
Parole Justice Advocacy Day, Jan 21, 2026
From our allies at the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice: On Wednesday, January 21, the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice will hold our first Parole Justice advocacy day of the new year at the New York State Capitol in Albany. RSVP today using this link.
We need YOU to help make it as powerful as possible. So RSVP today at https://bit.ly/parolejustice2026
On this advocacy day, we’ll uplift our vision for safety and justice rooted in reuniting families and meeting peoples’ needs–not endless punishment. We’ll be boarding buses from across the state and gathering in Albany for marches, rallies, and a press conference, as we call on the New York State Legislature to pass the Fair & Timely Parole (S159/A127) and Elder Parole (S454/A514) bills. (Read more about the bills in a one-pager here.) We’ll be uplifting incarcerated New Yorkers who have been denied a fair chance at parole release and are subject to the perpetual punishment in NY prisons, hearing their stories from their loved ones throughout the day.
Food and transportation will be provided. Justice cannot be denied in 2026! #ParoleJusticeNY NOW! This is the year we must summon all of our people power to get these bills to the floor for a vote, passed, and signed into law!
Invite others! In addition to RSVPing, please also forward this email to 5-10 people you know and encourage them to join!
Communities Not Cages Kick Off + Advocacy Day
From our allies at Communities Not Cages: Please RSVP and help spread the word for #CommunitiesNotCages kick-off rallies on Nov. 18 and first advocacy day on Jan. 26!
STATEWIDE RALLIES ON NOV. 18
On November 18 at 12pm, there will be rallies and press conferences across New York State to demand passage of the Second Look Act, Earned Time Act and Marvin Mayfield Act. Rallies will take place in New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Long Island, Westchester, Albany, and Ithaca. RSVP here for the #CommunitiesNotCages rallies on November 18.
FIRST ADVOCACY DAY ON JAN. 26
On January 26, there will be Communities Not Cages’ first advocacy day in Albany of 2026. With music, rallies, press conferences, and meetings with lawmakers, participants will powerfully demand action for #CommunitiesNotCages this year. Transportation and food provided. Please join and help turn folks out! RSVP here for the advocacy day.
