Interfaith Action For Human Rights

Our Mission

IAHR represents people of faith who educate and advocate in Maryland, DC and Virginia for corrections systems that avoid unnecessarily punitive practices such as solitary confinement and that instead focus on rehabilitation and successful reentry.

Our Vision

IAHR envisions a societal system of corrections that

Is free of racism,

Is rehabilitative rather than punitive, and that...

• Honors the dignity of each human being,
• Helps people return to society well prepared to carry on with fulfilling and productive lives and
• Holds those in power in the system responsible for implementing these principles.  

IAHR also envisions a society that minimizes the use of corrections by addressing the need for economic opportunity, education and healthcare of all of its members.

Our Work

IAHR contributes to the realization of our vision by bringing interfaith-based action to bear on prison reform in MD, DC (and the Federal Bureau of Prisons), and VA by:

 Advocating for

• the end of all forms of brutality & torture in prisons and jails,
• limiting the use of solitary confinement to 15 consecutive days and working toward its elimination,
• the development of rehabilitative alternatives to the current system of mass incarceration and
• improvement of education, medical care, and mental health services for those incarcerated,

 Providing supportive correspondents as well as legal and other services to those who are incarcerated and

 Educating the general population on prison reform.