Amidst growing criticism of its abundant use solitary confinement, the federal Bureau of Prisons has quietly set in motion an “internal audit” to review its “restricted housing operations.” The audit, which has been contracted out to a Washington think tank and will be conducted largely by former corrections officials, seems unlikely to bring any dramatic change […]
The title of this post is the title of an op-ed by us, published in the Guardian on Tuesday. An excerpt follows; click through to the Guardian site to read the full piece. Imagine a place filled with closed, windowless cells. Each cell may be so small that you can extend your arms and touch the […]
Most of the presentations at this past week’s congressional briefing on the effects of long-term solitary confinement provided a simple overview of what Solitary Watch’s readers know well: prolonged, isolated confinement causes serious psychological damage, and most courts and legislatures have been unwilling to find harsh practices unconstitutional or to change this nation’s current trajectory. […]
Obama’s oath to close the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay within a year of his election was more than a campaign promise or a post-inauguration executive order; for many people, it signified a return to some semblance of the rule of law after eight years of a rogue administration. But the 44th president had barely taken office when […]
In an earlier post, we wrote about what the so-called War on Terror of the last ten years owes to the longstanding War on Crime, in terms of how the United States treats its prisoner or detainees, and how willing we are to compromise their Constitutional and human rights.  (In fact, UC psychology professor Craig Haney has suggested that […]