The American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project has initiated a national campaign against what it calls “the dangerous overuse of solitary confinement” in U.S. prison and jails. The Stop Solitary campaign’s web page, which launched earlier this year, describes its mission: The ACLU, together with our state-based affiliates, scholars, activists, mental health experts, and faith-based organizations […]
Month: September 2011
Abu Ghraib, California: Report Shows Brutal Abuse of Prisoners in LA County Jails
A report released yesterday by the ACLU National Prison Project and ACLU of Southern California shows a pattern of brutal abuse in the Los Angeles County Jail system, which at times crossed the line into torture. The abuse has been carried out by the sheriff’s deputies in charge of prisoners in the county’s jails, who according to eyewitnesses have […]
Abu Ghraib on the Allegheny: Sexual and Physical Abuse at Pennsylvania Prison
A story out of Pennsylvania reveals the extreme abuse to which some U.S. prisoners are subjected. Yesterday, a suspended prison guard from the State Correctional Institution (SCI)-Pittsburgh was arrested on charges that he sexually or physically assaulted more than 20 inmates–and the district attorney has signalled that there are more arrests to come. As the AP reports: The 92 criminal charges […]
Roundup of Testimony from California Assembly Hearing on Solitary Confinement
Today, some inmates in the Security Housing Units (SHUs) at Pelican Bay and Calipatria State Prisons in California will resume a hunger strike demanding reforms ranging from nutritious meals to reducing the use of long-term solitary confinement. In response to a three-week hunger strike this past summer, the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee held a hearing on […]
Voices from Solitary: The "Life Negating Emptiness" of the Pelican Bay SHU
In 2008 Hector Gallegos won second prize in the essay category in PEN American Center’s Prison Writing Contest with his powerful account of life in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. What follows is a long excerpt from his essay, entitled “Species of a Lesser God”; the full piece can […]
The Truth About Solitary Confinement in California
As inmates in California Security Housing Units (SHUs) and Administrative Segregation Units prepare for another hunger strike on September 26 in response to what they see as an inadequate response by the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR), some informative figures have come out this month regarding California’s segregation policies in Pelican Bay State Prison and […]
The Torture of Troy Davis
If Troy Davis’s execution takes place, as scheduled, at 7 pm tonight, it will bring a devastating end to years of torture on death row. The cruel and unusual punishment of a possibly innocent man includes not only his death at the hands of the state, but the 20 years he spent in solitary confinement […]
NYC Bar Association Issues Report on "The Brutality of Supermax Confinement"
The New York City Bar Association’s Committee on International Human Rights has turned its sights on the American prison system, and produced a concise, well-documented, and important report on solitary confinement in the United States. As the report’s authors write: The policy of supermax confinement, on the scale which it is currently being implemented in the […]
New Fact Sheet on Solitary Confinement and the Law
Our latest fact sheet lays out the legal context in which the practice of solitary confinement has been carried out in U.S. prisons and jails. It discusses how the Constitution has historically been interpreted to limit–or allow–solitary confinement, and includes a section on international law. FACT SHEET — Solitary Confinement and the Law The fact sheet […]
California Teachers Union Letter of Support for Educational Programming in Solitary Confinement
On August 22nd, the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, drafted a letter in support of expanded educational program to inmates in the Security Housing Units across the California prison system. Jenn Laskin, a grievance officer and teacher in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, formally submitted the letter from the […]
California SHU Inmates to Resume Hunger Strike September 26th
On July 1st, 2011 over 6000 inmates at 13 prisons across California went on a hunger strike protesting the conditions of the state’s Security Housing Units–units in which inmates are in lockdown over 23 hours a day with minimal contact with others, with an average time spent in the SHU at over 6 years. (For […]
Voices from Solitary: "Beyond Inhumane"
Quaheem “Ox-Splish” Edwards is six years into a 21-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, firearms possession, and witness intimidation. He writes of himself, “There’s much more to my story than what the newspaper said or wrote.” Edwards says he grew up with a strong, loving family, but “still, chose the streets. I have no […]