https://socialworkersasc.org/home daily 1.0 2025-11-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/d17acce3-f32a-43c7-aadc-8172e234f21a/hero.jpg Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/5adb4fa9-a5e0-43fc-a367-2720c11fa508/Never+to+Surrender+front+cover+%283%29.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1712629991373-6GT9KVFMW9AUEB0K3KKV/1.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/0569c298-0da0-4778-a27d-19111f664aec/image-asset+%282%29.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1712630305628-VTBA534GGXWTGR9B6BT5/social-worker-in-prison.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1712598224851-OA99Q1B6CH7C38A3JVXG/Screen+Shot+2024-04-08+at+1.42.57+PM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1594053667074-JRVTEPWVQPHHMN2S9DQH/From+Solitary+to+Sunshine+%E2%80%93+a+Ray+of+Hope+in+a+Rocky+Mountain+Prison.jpg Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement are working. We visited three Colorado prisons to see for ourselves! by Mary Buser In December of 2018, a group of SWASC and CAIC members from New York — Mary Buser, Victor Pate, Moya Atkinson and Ali Winters — journeyed to Colorado to observe the publicized reforms to solitary confinement that the state has implemented over the past few years. As guests of Rick Raemisch, the reform-minded Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, the two-day excursion included visits to the Colorado State Penitentiary, the Centennial Prison and the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/bfdf151e-59a4-4343-a87a-e9cc5240548d/IMG_2269.jpg Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Solitary Confinement Garden SWASC Co-Convenor Sandy Bernabei recently created a backyard “solitary garden” to draw attention to the practice of solitary confinement. A brutal practice operating inside jails and prisons and out of public view, Sandy is bringing it into the light of day through this thought-provoking garden, which is modeled after jackie sumell’s “The Solitary Gardens,” an initiative honoring Herman Wallace, an innocent man who spent decades in a solitary confinement cell in Louisiana. Sandy’s garden simulates an average solitary cell in its dimensions of 9x6 feet. The garden is filled with flowers and plants that represent the life that exists inside some 80,000 solitary cells across the United States. A curbside sign invites everyday folks - passersby, hikers and dogwalkers, to follow a flagstone path to the garden, where a bench and informational materials on solitary confinement, await. Visitors are invited to sit, read and learn. It is hard to imagine that anyone visiting this garden would not be stirred with compassion and moved to demand the abolition of solitary confinement. Sandy’s garden is more than a garden. It is a place where the seeds for change have been planted. https://socialworkersasc.org/affiliates daily 0.75 2022-10-27 https://socialworkersasc.org/advisory-board daily 0.75 2024-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/fb203c44-3a8b-443f-a89a-b4018ba7f921/DCF637CB-6988-447A-812E-BC26FA1BDFA3.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement Robin Benton Robin Benton is an anti-racist activist, community organizer, and human rights educator. He presently works as Chairman of the Racial Equity Committee for his neighborhood association. He also sits on the US Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee. Committed to grassroots organizing, Robin was involved in organizing the 2012 national gathering for the Occupy Wall Street movement. He led organizing efforts to establish the Black Lives Matter movement in Asheville, NC. He also led efforts to organize the Carolina Human Rights Organizing Conference in 2016. Robin developed virtual organizing strategies and tactics as a social media manager of anti- racism media with 2 million reach a month before being removed from Facebook in 2019. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1595647591686-2W3MDY05LTJKGUNUN0ZI/Dolores+Canales.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Dolores Canales Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1630352774026-ARTWG1PGHIWI5HCSB53N/Frank+DePalma.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Frank DePalma Having been in prison for forty-three years, starting as a teen in a maximum security prison, and not getting out until the age of sixty-two, has for me been a myriad of nightmarish unnatural experiences that have taken me to the depths of human endurance and beyond into an emptiness that very few have experienced and were later able to talk about. But perhaps the very worst of it occurred during my time in solitary confinement: 22 years and 36 days. There are guys I have had lucid conversations with in years past, only to find them beyond reach anymore for they got lost in the emptiness I mentioned. Why am I here and able to articulate my experiences? Why am I of normal intellect and fully functional? Why is my mind intact? I don’t have answers to those questions, but I have answers for what needs to be done in order to do away with solitary, and though I’m not a psychiatrist, I understand intimately the process of a person essentially losing their mind from extended stays in solitary. No one is ever quite the same after doing tomb time. It is a practice that is archaic and was borne of desperation, ignorance and “anger” though most would not confess that. Minds are forever lost due to this torturous punishment. Families are forever impacted. Humanity is a powerful force that can lift us above all of life’s adversities but I have found humanity is also very fragile and must always be nurtured. Let’s educate society to the truths about solitary confinement and let them together tell elected lawmakers what they want: abolish solitary. End this barbaric punishment as it is truly torture. We must stop the torture. Ending solitary confinement has been my mission since my release from prison. To this end, in April of 2024, I am thrilled to share that I published a book: Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary! The Battle for my Soul in a U.S. Prison. Find more about the book at my website: nevertosurrender. Thank you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/7c384a30-4742-42d3-9846-d34f326ba84d/IMG_2480.jpeg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement Nathaniel B. Evans Nathaniel Evans brings more than ten years of dedicated experience as a social justice advocate, focusing on addressing the systemic injustices entrenched within the prison system. Throughout his career, Nathaniel has collaborated closely with prominent advocacy groups including JustLeadership USA (CloseRikers Campaign), Vocal NY, Halt Solitary Confinement, and Freedom Agenda, actively working to combat the harms perpetuated by incarceration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/33a39442-5c3c-4829-a34b-662aa4d4fc4b/unnamed-31.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Jon McFarlane Having faced incarceration several times early in my life, I know what it means to have support from family and friends and I recognize that lots of incarcerated individuals aren't so lucky. That is why I have dedicated my life to being an activist and an advocate for those currently suffering in our nation's prison industrial complex. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1596812673982-DPJC8BTXJ68P08RYTI0L/Victor+Pate.png Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Victor Pate Victor Pate - Statewide Campaign Organizer. Victor brings years of organizing experience into his role as The NY Statewide Campaign Organizer for the Campaign for Alternatives To Isolated Confinement. Is Formerly Incarcerated, a member of multiple Criminal Justice Reform organizations and recently became a Certified Chaplain. A founding member and current Chairman of The NYC Chapter of the National Action Network Second Chance Committee that assists formerly incarcerated men and women transition from Prisons and Jails into community. Victor has been a part of the many NYS Criminal Justice reform coalitions from the Rockerfeller Drug Laws, Raise the Age, Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, NYS Prisoner Justice Network, Release Aging People In Prisons, Campaign to restore Tuition Assistance to incarcerated persons and Voting Rights for people on parole and probation. Victor continues to engage in advocacy work from a broad perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1602635835833-MU7IZ4ALWB4NYMX4U9MM/Johnny+Perez.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Johnny Perez Criminal Justice Reform Leader Drawing on the wisdom of thirteen years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system, Mr. Johnny Perez works as the Director of the U.S. Prisons Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an interfaith membership organization comprised of 325 religious organizations working to end U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Through his leadership, Mr. Perez coordinates NRCAT’s existing campaign efforts to end the torture of solitary confinement, adding value and strategic insight to building the capacity of faith leaders and directly impacted communities to engage in education and legislative advocacy across the United States. He adds insight and guidance as a proud participant on the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Law Center and the Urban Justice Center, both non-profit public interest law firms advocating for the rights, dignity, equity and opportunities of underserved populations. Additionally, after three years in solitary confinement, he now leads a national movement to end the practice in coalition with the Unlock the Box Campaign. Mr. Perez recently joined as advisory board member and research consultant of the Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, a comprehensive effort to spur innovation to make prisons humane, safe, and rehabilitative environments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1595647646382-AYMP0FN50QI0S01S874O/Christa+Pike.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Christa Pike Christa Pike is currently serving a sentence of death on Tennessee's death row and is the only female on death row in the state. She has been in solitary confinement for over 20 years and has been instrumental in helping advocates and others understand the solitary experience. In addition, Christa has been an advocate for the those with medical, psychiatric, or intellectual impairments residing in solitary confinement at Tennessee Prison for Women. Her assistance as a member of the SWASC Advisory Board has included a Q&A discussion with the SWASC task force and an availability for mail correspondence with those interested in learning more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1602635748616-XF5YGXDMG5WZPRN6XSJ8/Saint+Salomon.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Saint Solomon “How Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement Saved My Life” Solitary confinement coffined my outgoing persona into a closed casket fitted precisely for an isolationist. My memory vividly reminds me of past decades when I was the life of plenty of parties. However, nowadays, I don’t even party. If, and or when, I leave my humble dwelling, I walk with my face cast downward, avoiding any and all eye contact. My entire persona mirrors that of an introvert. I no longer possess a desire to be friendly to my friends. In fact, I view former friends as potential enemies and I'm reluctant to befriend any strangers. All of this occurs despite the gravity of their politeness or the depth of their generosity. I try to rest while a naked light bulb shines brightly into my swollen and sleepy eyes. In my humble abode, the bleakness and blackness breathes life into the lungs of shadowy silhouettes of sadistic correctional officers. They are raping and molesting my mind, body and soul in ways unimaginable to the average human being. Their uniforms are simply costumes designed to subliminally heighten anxieties and exacerbate fears. Similar to Batman these bad men wear utility belts equipped with weapons reminiscent of phallic symbols. For example, imagine sleeping in a cage that is as small as a baby’s casket; or, certainly no bigger than a puppy’s dog house. Thrice a day, a metal tray scattered with slop is delivered through a miniature mail slot. It’s a Godless environment because the only prophets are the sinister guards who profit off the misery and mayhem that perpetuates and circulates throughout these hellholes. I thank the higher powers for SWASC. I believe that without the help of these social workers and the officiousness of these caring officials; there would be no oversight of these fire breathing dragons; all of whom guard, serve and protect these inhumane dark and dusky dungeons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1a1d2741-9af8-4972-bfd6-2b9e5a2f25e0/20240118_200121.jpg Advisory Board | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement - Marvin Wade Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://socialworkersasc.org/articles/rocky-mountain-prison daily 0.75 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1594053667074-JRVTEPWVQPHHMN2S9DQH/From+Solitary+to+Sunshine+%E2%80%93+a+Ray+of+Hope+in+a+Rocky+Mountain+Prison.jpg From Solitary to Sunshine – a Ray of Hope in a Rocky Mountain Prison - Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement are working. We visited three Colorado prisons to see for ourselves! - By Mary Buser In December of 2018, a group of SWASC and CAIC members from New York — Mary Buser, Victor Pate, Moya Atkinson and Ali Winters — journeyed to Colorado to observe the publicized reforms to solitary confinement that the state has implemented over the past few years. As guests of Rick Raemisch, the reform-minded Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, the two-day excursion included visits to the Colorado State Penitentiary, the Centennial Prison and the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. Accompanied by Director Raemisch, along with various wardens and staff, we moved deeply into the prisons, learning that the reforms to solitary began in 2011, ultimately resulting in the statewide release of 1,500 people from isolation cells. In place of solitary, “step-down” units, which allow for a progression of increasing levels of time outside the cell with a four-hour minimum, (to include socialization and therapy), were successfully implemented. The “Step-down” units are as follows: “MCC” – Management Control Comprehensive /Highest level – 4 hours out of cell + rec “MCU” – Management Control Unit – 4 hours out of cell + rec – socialize w/ 8 others “CCTU” – Close Custody Transition Unit – 6 hours out of cell + rec - socialize with 16 others The primary goal is working up through the levels to re-entry into General Population and ultimately a successful re-entry into the community. We also learned that the transition away from solitary was more complicated than expected — of the 1,500 released, roughly 250— the most severely mentally ill — initially refused to leave their cells, and it was only through therapy dogs that they were eventually coaxed out. As we walked through various units, we met “Jimmy,” a man who had spent 25 years in solitary. In a quivery voice, he said that four years ago, his cell door was unlocked and the warden stepped in and told him the state was abolishing solitary confinement for humanitarian reasons. After two and a half decades in a cell the size of a parking space, Jimmy was coming out. The warden offered him newly developed interventions to help him cope with any violent impulses. Jimmy said he was confused, but because of the trust now placed in him, he would “do his part.” In the four years since his liberation from solitary, Jimmy proudly stated that he has not been involved in a single violent incident, despite a long history of violence. We learned that Jimmy’s profile is not unusual and that contrary to fears of increased violence without solitary confinement, overall violence has only dropped, with as much as a 46% reduction in assaults on staff. As the team spoke to individuals and sat in on group meetings in all three institutions, a sense of calm and goodwill pervaded. Low level interventions for stress reduction, such as softly painted de-escalation rooms, peer counseling, and yoga, were abundant, as well as numerous vocational and therapeutic opportunities. At the Centennial Prison, Cognitive and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy are utilized for those suffering from mental illness. At the women’s facility, which resembled more of a college campus than a prison, we chatted with the women, met the canine training team, and visited numerous vocational settings that included the print shop, welding, and cosmetology classes, as well as “apartments” to help women approaching release to prepare for life on the outside. Surrounded by all of this positivity, we were initially a little skeptical, and Victor Pate quietly pulled aside one of the men in the Colorado Penitentiary, and asked him for the “unvarnished truth.” The man shook his head and told Victor that what he was observing was “the real deal” and that his entire life would have been very different if he had been offered this level of support earlier on in his life. At all three facilities, we observed correctional staff and the incarcerated interacting in a mutually respectful manner. At the women’s facility, an officer told us that he was initially resistant to all of these changes — not only to solitary, but to the overall shift to a more positive and supportive focus — but that to his surprise, these changes have been his own “rehabilitation” as he is now a part of the greater goal of ensuring that as these people eventually return to society, they are better — not worse — than when they had entered the system. Prior to our departure, this trip generated a good deal of interest, as well as skepticism — we were repeatedly asked whether or not the reforms in Colorado were real – “Have they really reformed solitary confinement?” We can say that based on our visit, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” Of the four team members who visited, three of us spent significant periods of time either working behind bars, or incarcerated at one point, and we all agreed that the culture in these Colorado prisons is dramatically different from our own experiences. While we are aware of reported problems relating to inadequate mental health care in some of the other Colorado prisons, we can only attest that our observations in these three prisons demonstrated significant and meaningful changes. As Rick Raemisch enters retirement, we applaud him for these bold reforms, and as the newly appointed Executive Director, Dean Williams, takes over, we hope these initiatives will continue, and that they will soon extend to the entire Colorado Prison system. It is also hoped that the reforms in Colorado will become a model for other states like New York of what is possible under courageous and humane leadership. https://socialworkersasc.org/resources daily 0.75 2023-05-31 https://socialworkersasc.org/contact daily 0.75 2023-02-06 https://socialworkersasc.org/steering-committee daily 0.75 2025-11-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/0a5b0710-56d1-4980-9a20-ceba685c7d10/PLACE+AWS+2014-5_+Nancy+Arvold_Knitting+Together+Community+Artist+Talk+1890+Bryant_2015_Photo+Reiko+Fujii+%282%29.JPG Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Nancy Arvold, PhD, MFT Dr. Nancy C. Arvold is a psychologist who has been a licensed MFT in private practice for over 40 years and an adjunct professor and clinical supervisor at California Institute of Integral Studies. She received her PhD in psychology in 2010 from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in CA (currently Sofia University), where her dissertation was entitled “Doing Our Own Work: White Women’s Struggles to Become Authentic Racial Justice Allies.” She serves on the board of Psychologists for Social Responsibility and is active with Plymouth Church (theJazz and Justice church of Oakland, CA). She sings with three choirs and choruses and lives in a cooperative community that is part of the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park in Richmond, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1593995884822-A9TM8V1LTAXLGRRDIS51/IMG_9567.JPG Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Sandra Bernabei, LCSW Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/f84cc97c-6d87-46b6-93b7-bbe156edb190/Ken-Bright.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Ken Bright Ken Bright, once incarcerated himself, founded Life Progressive Services, a not-for-profit Reentry and Transitional Program for Returning Citizens to the community in 2009. He is also involved in Riker’s Reform, Peace Keepers Organization, Boys and Girls Club of America’s “Passport to Manhood, and the Westchester Red Cross of Putnam County’s emergency food program. https://www.volunteernewyork.org/HOC__Organization_Profile_Page?Oid=001F0000011W8EdIAK Ken is also a member of SWASC’s Advisory Board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1593746987595-HFFFS8XCFQWPFK1VJSSP/mary-Buser.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Mary Buser, LCSW SWASC Co-Director Mary Buser, co-director and founding member of SWASC, is a former Assistant Chief of Mental Health, Rikers Island, Punitive Segregation Unit. She has written opeds regarding solitary confinement and in 2015 published the award-winning book “Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York’s Notorious Jail.” Along with Advisory Board member, Frank De Palma, she coauthored Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary: The Battle for my Soul in a U.S. Prison. She is a frequent panelist at community and national events. www.marybuser.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1598628190567-YDU71JL3MJOVTB4OOYSN/Nicole+Capozziello.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Nicole Capozziello, MSW SWASC Co-Director Nicole Capozziello is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Welfare at the University at Buffalo. Since 2019, she has worked as a local organizer with the Western New York chapter of the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement and a community gardener and activist with Grassroots Gardens of WNY. She is also a freelance writer on food, the arts, and social justice, and recently wrote study guides for Solitary Watch and SWASC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/9e7faef8-ad63-428e-a9a9-af3bef074086/unnamed-15-2.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Marguerita Johnson-Tolson, MSW Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1594583847685-VKGTZDIVP4F6MPBXPNNI/mary+pelton+cooper+with+vote+sign2019.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Mary Pelton-Cooper, PsyD Mary Pelton-Cooper is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, a Doctor of Clinical Psychology and a Registered Nurse. She is a retired Professor of Psychology and is now in private practice. In her university career she was a founding member and President of a campus ALLIES organization for faculty and staff, and she chaired her university AAUP Committee on the Status of Women in the Academic Profession. Now she has joined the leadership of Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement. She believes PsySR, SWASC and other comparable organizations are critically important in human systems. Professional organizations at the national level tend to engage in abuses of power. And thus the work of independent social justice organizations is essential as a counterbalance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1593747785955-GIYHCSHG4XGR4MYGMCT2/nick-shepack.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Nick Shepack, MSW Nick Shepack is an MSW graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno. He started his work on solitary confinement during his internship with the ACLU of Nevada (ACLUNV) during the 2018-2019 academic year. Nicholas spent a year as a social work intern for the Washoe County Public Defenders Office working with the accused. Nicholas has recently accepted a fellowship with the ACLU of Nevada. As the Stop Solitary Fellow for the ACLU of Nevada he is working to change solitary policy at the state and local levels. He hopes to build a robust network of solitary confinement survivors, their families, social workers and community members to lift up the voices of impacted persons and to create lasting change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1593995952177-HJROU5PT6CM9T6SNI1P4/winters_2019_sq.png Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Ali Winters, DSW, LCSW Ali Winters recently retired from her role as an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Tennessee State University, with direct practice experience with those placed in solitary confinement and death row. She continues to be a dedicated social justice advocate working toward criminal justice reform surrounding the use of solitary confinement at the local, state and national level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef13e3fb907445e09739dac/1593746580782-67A4TGVNIJHTXAW9U49H/Moya_taken_by_Bill_Cook_201228129.jpg Steering Committee | Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement SWASC - Moya Atkinson, MSW SWASC Founder Sadly, Moya Atkinson passed away in June of 2025. A lifelong human rights advocate, Moya had a profound impact as a leader and visionary throughout her long life and we are all fortunate that she gave the final decade of her life to the cause of ending solitary confinement. We are grateful for her work and inspiration and know that she will be greatly missed by many. 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