Two recent stories in the New York City media delve into the controversy surrounding the lack of an emergency evacuation plan for Rikers Island. Solitary Watch’s original story on this subject went viral in the days leading up to Hurricane Irene. In our follow-up we cited the response from the New York City Department of Corrections, […]
Month: October 2011
Voices from Solitary: "There Must Never Be A Time When We Fail To Protest"
The following is a series of excerpts from letters written by a prisoner who has been in solitary confinement in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison for nearly two decades. He participated in the July hunger strike for changes to conditions in and policies governing California’s SHUs, and resumed during the second phase of the strike in September. The […]
"On the Row, You Never See the Stars": Oregon Prisoner Wants to Die to Escape Death Row
Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen has been scheduled for execution on December 6th. He will be the first Oregon inmate to be put to death in over 14 years, provided the execution proceeds–which is likely, since Haugen has chosen to waive all remaining appeals of his death sentence. He has asked for an expedited execution date, insisting that “dying […]
UN Torture Investigator Calls on Nations to End Solitary Confinement
The UN’s torture investigator, Juan Mendez, yesterday called on UN members nations to ban nearly all uses of solitary confinement in prisons, warning that is causes serious mental and physical harm and often amounts to torture. Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment, presented a written report on solitary confinement to the UN General Assembly’s […]
New Video: Charlie and Pauline Sullivan of C.U.R.E.
CURE–Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants–is an international organization that was founded in Texas in 1972, and became a national organization in 1985. Now nearly 40 years old, CURE has remained loyal to its original ideals, even as the politics of punishment brought about a shift in ideology and resources away from rehabilitation and toward retribution. […]
Tuesday Night in NYC: Forum on Solitary Confinement Features UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Tonight, a coalition of human rights and civil rights groups and faith communities will host a briefing and panel discussion on solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails, featuring some of the leading experts and advocates on this issue as well as the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on torture and other cruel, […]
Pennsylvania Prisoners Charged with Rioting After Protesting Conditions in Solitary
A group of inmates held in solitary confinement in a Pennsylvania prison have been charged with various felony offenses, including rioting and aggravated harassment, stemming from their participation in an April 2010 protest against prison abuses. The group, which has come to be known as the Dallas 6, covered the windows of their cell doors with bedding […]
Voices from Solitary: "We Will Not Stop Until We Are Heard"
Yesterday, mediators who met with representatives of hunger striking prisoners in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison confirmed that the prisoners in the unit have decided to end their three-week-old strike. According to the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition, “The prisoners have cited a memo from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation […]
Voices from Solitary: Letter from Calipatria Prison Hunger Strikers
The following letter is from inmates at Calipatria State Prison’s Administrative Segregation Unit, who are taking part in the hunger strike that began September 26. It is believed that 200 inmates in the prisons segregation units have participated in the strike so far. According to the hunger strikers, the majority of prisoners in administrative segregation […]
Federal Judge Rules 28 Years in Solitary Confinement Not "Extreme," Dismisses Silverstein Case
Thomas Silverstein, plaintiff in a potentially groundbreaking case challenging his more than 28 years of extreme solitary confinement under a “no human contact” order, has had his case dismissed by a Federal District Court judge in Denver. Silverstein’s student attorney’s at the University of Denver law school had argued that their client’s decades of utter isolation in […]
California Department of Corrections Threatens Prison Hunger Strikers, Bans Lawyers
In response to a renewed inmate hunger strike to protest conditions in the California prison system, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has taken a hard line, threatening participants with disciplinary action and banning two lawyers who represent the strikers. According to the Contra Costa Times: Prison officials are investigating the two lawyers for “alleged misconduct,” said Terry […]
Voices from Solitary: Loneliness and Solitude
Written in the weeks leading up to the current California prison hunger strike, the following essay by San Quentin death row inmate George Hernandez describes his experiences in isolation. Having been in and out of prison since 1995, including various experiences in Administrative Segregation and Security Housing Units, Hernandez wrote this essay as a way of […]