• The Crime Report published a report from a two-day colloquium about the use of segregation that occurred last fall and involved corrections agencies, academic experts and advocates. The colloquium aimed to “further a national consensus on ending the over-use of extreme isolation in prisons.” • A Colorado statistician who accused state prison officials of manipulating statistics […]
habeas corpus
Federal Judge Orders Angola 3's Albert Woodfox Released After 43 Years in Solitary
Update, June 12, 4:30 pm: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to continue the stay and block release until the State of Louisiana’s appeal is heard, but they have also granted an “expedited” status for the appeal. Final legal briefs are due August 7, so nearly two more months will pass before Albert Woodfox […]
After 41 Years in Solitary, a Dying Herman Wallace Has His Conviction Overturned----and Is Freed
Update, 10/4/15, 10 am: Herman Wallace died early this morning, a free man. He was 71 years old. In a long article we wrote in 2006 on Herman Wallace and his case, we ended with a quote from a letter he wrote to Jackie Sumell: “I’m often asked what did I come to prison for; and now […]
If You Build It, They Will Come: Obama Commits to Gitmo North
The federal government confirmed on Thursday that it plans to buy Thomson Correction Center. Obama has long envisioned the state prison in rural Illinois as a new home for the detainees from the so-called war on terror who are currently housed at Guantanamo Bay. But it is quite possible that no Gitmo residents will ever live there. According to Lynn Sweet’s […]
Two Clinton-Era Laws That Permit Cruel and Unusual Punishment
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 […]
What the War on Terror Owes to the War on Crime
One of the reasons we started the Solitary Watch project was what we observed as a disconnect between the public’s awareness of (and reaction to) the abuses brought about by the so-called War on Terror of the last ten years, and those already in place as a result of the longstanding War on Crime. As we […]