Esther Lim, a social worker employed by the ACLU to monitor LA County jails, was meeting with an incarcerated man in an attorney meeting room in 2011 when she heard what sounded like a fight. She looked through a window to see two deputies repeatedly beating an incarcerated man, James Parker, and shocking him with […]
• The ACLU interviewed the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, about what he accomplished during his tenure. “We still need to ban prolonged solitary confinement and indefinite solitary confinement,” he said of the progress that needs to be made in the US. “And regardless of duration, we need very clear and specific […]
• The LA Times published an in-depth look into the use of solitary confinement at the Men’s Central Jail, including efforts to reduce the use of isolation. Dominic Walker, who was in solitary confinement at the jail for three years, said “it makes you feel like nobody. I’m here, the walls are closing in. It […]
The following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts. • The Chronicles of Social Change published an article, called Holding on to Humanity, about “a social worker’s visit with youth offenders at Pelican Bay State Prison.” • Fresno County has […]