In our first “Dissenter Weekly Update” episode of the year, CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou joins the show. He is also a former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We highlight letters to the United Kingdom and United States government from United Nations Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer that condemn
UN Special Rapporteur On Torture Nils Melzer strongly objected to the UK government’s indifference toward WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s ongoing abuse and mistreatment in detention.
Kevin Gosztola highlights several top films from 2019, including Dark Waters, Hail Satan?, The Nightingale, and The Report.
*The following is a collection of some of the best albums of protest music released in 2019. They were selected by Kevin Gosztola and C.J. Baker, who publishes writing regularly at Ongoing History Of Protest Songs. They are in alphabetical order by artist. Kishi Bashi — Omoiyari Kishi Bashi’s stunning
In our latest “Dissenter Weekly Update” episode, we highlight how the United States government won its lawsuit against NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and may confiscate proceeds he earned from his book, Permanent Record, as well as his speeches. The U.S. government accused Snowden of violating secrecy agreements he signed with the NSA
A federal judge ruled the United States government may confiscate proceeds NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden earned from the publication of his book, Permanent Record, as well as his speeches.
Columbia Riverkeeper claims Northwest Innovation Works sought billions to build a fracked gas-to-methanol refinery in violation of federal law.
In this week’s “Dissenter Weekly Update” episode, we highlight the Boeing 737 MAX whistleblower, who testified before the House Transportation Committee. We highlight a whistleblower at Miami-Dade County jail, who was reportedly barred from talking to a Miami Herald reporter about brutality in the facility. Later in the episode, we
Every year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) compiles a list of journalists jailed throughout the world. It calls attention to authoritarian leaders in countries like China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, who flagrantly clamp down on reporters critical of their governments. But the highly respected press freedom organization, which
On Monday, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a 42-year-old federal inmate claims he has been denied treatment for AIDS at two different jails in Florida — one of which has been privatized — for the past several months. Kelby McCrillis said he received treatments for AIDS over the past thirteen years, but has had his medications discontinued since his incarceration at the Citrus County Detention Center and the Pinellas County Jail.
For at least the second time this year, an inmate has died at a private prison away from home. The Associated Press reports corrections officials in Hawaii have announced an investigation into the death of 21-year-old Jonathan Namauleg of Maui, who died last week at the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona. Saguaro is operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Reader Phillip Baker responds to Gaming the System by sharing his experiences as a prisoner healthcare advocate who spent years trying to get adequate healthcare for prisoners with Type 1 diabetes. To his dismay, prison healthcare officials seem to care little for the well-being of their inmates.
An ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit alleges in less than one month at Indiana’s Dearborn County Detention Center, jail staff neglected the obvious and critical medical needs of a 69-year-old inmate, allowing his conditions to deteriorate so severely he would later spend nearly 200 days recovering in hospitals and nursing homes. Advanced Correctional Healthcare
2015 has been a big year for Corizon Health Services: in the span of six months, the nation’s largest for-profit inmate healthcare provider has managed to break not one, but two different state records for the largest wrongful death settlement payouts in history.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama’s administration requested that a federal court reverse a July 24 order which prohibited the detention of mothers and children who fled violence in countries in Central America. This represents a slimy attempt to push Judge Dolly M. Gee into scuttling an order, which sought to hold the Obama administration accountable for corruption and misconduct that has been ongoing as a result of immigration policies. But the administration does not stop there.
A new report by In The Public Interest (ITPI) illustrates how private companies that operate prisons or services within prisons use correctional associations to gain intimate access to decision makers in government — almost entirely off the books. Private companies pay millions of dollars each year to attend their conferences, lead trainings and workshops, give speeches, and advertise their products and services to law enforcement officials in attendance.
The New York Daily News reports the family of Kalief Browder will serve New York City with a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit. Browder’s case was one of the driving forces behind the jail reform movement in New York City, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to order changes to the city’s solitary confinement policy for juvenile inmates.
Inmate deaths in local jails and state prisons are on the rise for the third year in a row, according to a new study by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The report, released on August 4, found that the number of jailhouse deaths increased between 2012 and 2013 even though jail populations declined by 4% during that time.