In December 2016, Iowa attorney Mary Richard filed a complaint with the state’s Department of Education opposing the use of seclusion units in schools. The units are located within special education classrooms and used to hold children with autism and other disorders in “time-out.” The seclusion units are generally built of plywood, measuring six by six

The wife of a jailed activist, who faces felony charges for a digital sit-in against the Boston Children’s Hospital website, demands President-elect Donald Trump use his influence to have the charges dropped. Marty Gottesfeld learned about the case of Justina Pelletier, who was institutionalized in a psychiatric ward in 2013

Jails and prisons across the country struggle to tamp down the sale and use of contraband cell phones. But for many prisoners, especially those involved in the national prison strike against slave labor, access to such technology is considered a lifeline. Prisoners in Alabama, South Carolina, New York, and other states use contraband phones

The Swet Shop Boys is a rap duo comprised of Himanshu Suri, who is known for his work with Das Racist, and actor Riz Ahmed, who goes by the moniker, Riz MC. Ahmed is a British Pakistani. Suri is of Punjabi-Indian descent. Their ethnicities and brown skin inevitably mean they

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Moe Shinola of Kansas City, Missouri, produced a protest song to coincide with the launch of the national prison labor strike on September 9. Called “Abolish Legal Slavery,” it specifically highlights what Shinola described as the “corporate exploitation of prison labor” and the “prisoner exception to the

Brazilian music icon Elza Soares introduces her new album by acknowledging racism, domestic violence, drug addiction, global warming, and sex are the “real issues facing Brazil in its Olympic year.” And on “A Mulher Do Fim Do Mundo,” or “A Woman At the End Of the World,” the septuagenarian artist

The aftermath of the regime change operation in Libya has become even more horrific, as the United States resumes bombing. The intelligence behind the latest decision to escalate military action in Libya is believed to be faulty again. Re-escalation of military operations by Western forces in Libya comes amidst a

In Chicago, there is a notorious individual, who is part of the city’s police union. He spreads disinformation to media by going to scenes immediately after police kill civilians and then fabricates narratives that benefit the officers involved. His name is Pat Camden. Camden comes off as someone who is

After months of pressure by Reprieve, a human rights organization, former Guantánamo prisoner Younous Chekkouri has finally been freed from a Moroccan jail.