International Human Rights Day (and Human Rights Shabbat) is December 10, which prompted me to put together this post.
Ronald Simpson-Bey and I led a workshop on Yom Kippur about solitary confinement and building criminal justice institutions that encourage t’shuvah. Many of the workshop participants asked for more information about how they could get involved, and I promised to post some ideas. So here goes:
I’ve asked many people from many organizations: this post brings together their thoughts on getting informed and building bridges. There’s also a prayer for those in solitary, at the bottom. If you’re interested in working further on this issue, or learning more, please sign up here.
- Get informed.
- T’ruah publishes this terrific handbook: http://www.truah.org/incarceration
- Books, articles, and lists of further resources to read:
- Facts and Resources from Solitary Watch
- Hell is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement
- ACLU’s Stop Solitary resource list
- Margo Schlanger & Amy Fettig, Eight Principles for Reforming Solitary Confinement
- Arts in prison (Artistic Noise website)
- There are a number of fantastic works of film, theater, and art about imprisonment. If there was interest (remember, sign up here), we could arrange for a showing or reading.
- Natural Causes Killed Victor (an opera)
- If the SHU Fits: Reader’s Theatre Performance Script; on Youtube here from Temple Beth El, Apatos CA
- Breaking Down the Box, a documentary for communities of faith from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- Our Children’s House, a one-act play.
- Mariposa & the Saint, a play.
- Reach out. Building bridges from prison to the outside is enormously gratifying, and key to reintegrating prisoners productively into communities.
- Some quick ways to reach out:
- Leave a supportive note on one of the blog posts at Between the Bars (the note will be printed and anonymously mailed to the prisoner).
- Write a short holiday card to someone at Prison Inmate Penpal. For the return address, if you’d like to remain anonymous, you can use the address of Fair Shake Reentry Resource Center at: Fair Shake, PO Box 63, Westby, WI 54667.
- Prison Creative Arts Project (UM) — a fantastic organization, which is doing a training for new volunteers on Jan. 8. let them know you’re interested here. (And don’t forget to sign up with us here, too.)
- Michigan Criminal Justice Project, American Friends Service Committee. They have a program called the Good Neighbor Project, which pairs free-world and prisoner folks. Here’s some info. There are periodic trainings–and if there was enough interest (again, sign up here), they would do a special one for us. The same organization also relies on volunteers to do advocacy work. If anyone is interested in either of these, use the signup, and I can either link you to the right person or (if there is enough interest) we can coordinate something for our community.
- Here are some ways to get involved in a visiting or pen-pal program for prisoners. Ideas from T’ruah.
- Solitary Watch, Lifelines to Solitary.
- Some quick ways to reach out:
A prayer for justice
From a space of narrow tightness we call to the Eternal, and God answers; from the belly of death we cry out and You hear our voice.
Our brothers and sisters have been cast into the depths of solitary confinement; so many waves and breakers have buffeted and drowned them.
We, too, feel their pain, and reel from the impact of this injustice.
They are cast out from the public eye, but we will not let them be forgotten.
May the One Who was with our brother Joseph in the pit and in prison, and with our sister Miriam when she was isolated from the camp for seven days—
Bless and heal all those who are imprisoned in solitary confinement.
May the Holy Blessed One be filled with mercy for them, strengthening them and keeping them from all harm.
May God speedily send them complete healing of spirit and of body and grant our society the wisdom to find a more fair and humane system soon, in our day. And let us say, Amen.
