Dear Friends, The California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement, a bill which places limits on the use of solitary confinement in California jails, prisons, and for-profit immigrant detention centers, passed the California legislature in August and is now sitting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature. But we are not waiting around! Today 37 religious organizations in California, including national faith organizations with a significant presence in California, joined together in a letter to Governor Newsom to urge him to sign AB 2632, the California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement. If signed into law, California will join New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut in legislating strict limits on the use of solitary confinement and banning prolonged isolation - read more in our press release. Faith leaders will join solitary survivors for an Instagram Live of our Letter Delivery Event today, Sept 14 at 2pm PT/5pm ET in Sacramento, CA (the state capitol), which you can watch at https://www.instagram.com/ccijustice/. Then, on Thursday, September 15 at 10am PT/1pm ET you are invited to join a Virtual Rally to urge Governor Newsom to sign the Mandela Act into law. To tune into the rally, please watch at: www.unlocktheboxcampaign.org/mandela-bill. Also, please join people currently in solitary in California and across the country, and in honor of the tens of thousands of people in California prisons who went on repeated hunger strikes a decade ago to shed light on the horrors of solitary, in a nationwide 24-hour National Day of Fasting. The fast began today and will end tomorrow at 10am PT/1pm ET. These events are hosted by our many faith and secular partners in California, the national Unlock the Box Campaign, and NRCAT. Let California feel your national solidarity! Sample social media post if fasting: In solidarity with Californians in solitary confinement who went on hunger strike a decade ago and people still in solitary now, I am fasting for 24 hours to urge @GavinNewsom to uphold basic human rights by signing the Mandela Act and finally ending prolonged solitary. Thank you for joining in this struggle for justice and human dignity. Sincerely,
The NRCAT Team | 
