U.S. Advocacy and Litigation
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Celebrating The Year One of Integrating RDN and RFKHR
Share Join us for a summer rooftop celebration of the integration of RDN and Sarah Gillman with RFK Human Rights. A seasoned attorney specializing in immigrants’ rights, Gillman’s work is expanding our U.S. advocacy and litigation efforts on key human rights issues, including reducing the size and scope of the mass incarceration system. You’ll hear
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Minnesota foster youth are tortured with solitary confinement: Report to UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement
In June 2023, RFK Human Rights and partner Atlas of Blackness submitted written testimony and proposed recommendations to the United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER). This submission followed EMLER’s visit to Minnesota, MN.
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US abuses human rights with solitary confinement: request for thematic hearing at the IACHR
In April 2023, RFK Human Rights and nine partners requested a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning the United States’ tortuous use of solitary confinement. The request exposes how the United States’ persistent use of solitary confinement violates international human rights law, threatening the rights to life, health and safety, liberty,…
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US tortures Black people with solitary confinement: report to UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement
The United States wields solitary confinement against Afro-descendent people in municipal jails, state and federal prisons, immigration detention centers, and care settings for foster youth, causing devastating mental, physical, and emotional harm.
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New York tortures people with solitary confinement: letter to the NY Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
In February 2023, RFK Human Rights wrote a letter to the DOCCS, highlighting the ways in which current regulations violate HALT, and provided recommendations to cure these violations.
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Davis v. Garland: Fighting indefinite civil detention
Federal court holds due process requires consideration of alternatives to detention at an immigration bond hearing.
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Haitian Bridge Alliance v. DHS: Exposing anti-Black discrimination at the border
This case under the Freedom of Information Act seeks documents explaining why the US engaged military-grade force for the mass detention and expulsion of more than 15,000 people at the southern border in Del Rio, Texas in September 2021. The majority of those expelled were Haitian and other Black immigrants.
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Mass Bail Out
Share In October 2018, RFK Human Rights freed more than 100 people from New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail who were incarcerated pretrial because they couldn’t afford their bail. The effort highlighted how money bail discriminates against people of color and those experiencing poverty—generating unprecedented demand for reform.
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Louisiana ICE Jail Under Fire Over Claims of Abuse
RFK Human Rights’ staff attorney Sarah Decker spoke with KLFY in Louisiana on our latest immigration report.
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Report Details Rampant Abuse at Louisiana ICE Detention Center
Inhumane conditions and overuse of solitary confinement were just some of the egregious human rights violations found at the Pine Prairie immigrant detention center.
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RFK Human Rights Testimony on Solitary Confinement to the NYC Council Committee on Criminal Justice
In December 2020, RFK Human Rights submitted a testimony to the NYC Council Committee on Criminal Justice, commending the Council for its intention to end solitary confinement, yet highlighting how certain measures fell short.
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Our Full Public Comment to the NYC Board of Correction
We urge the abolition of punitive separation and prolonged solitary confinement in New York City.
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