While many articles on the hunger strike protest of Supermax prisoners at California’s Pelican Bay prison have rightly emphasized the conditions of torture that arise from a regime of long-term solitary confinement, another object of the strikers is to end the hated “debriefing” system, by which prisoners cannot escape their conditions unless they “snitch, parole, or die.” The “debriefing” regime is eerily similar to that experienced by so-called unlawful detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

There will be much more to report on this on Monday, but here is some news on the prisoner hunger strike at Pelican Bay. The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity (PHSS) coalition reports: This afternoon leaders of the Pelican Bay hunger strike unanimously rejected a proposal from the [California Department of

Much thanks to all of you who visited The Dissenter yesterday and made the first day that this space was up and running a successful one. Now, I would like to share with you a transcript and full video of Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald’s speech at Socialism 2011 a couple

Israel passed a law punishing people who advocate for a boycott of the settlements. The law is definitely not only a blow to freedom of speech in Israel but also another act of repression against Palestinian solidarity activism in Israel.

(photo: gnuckx) Earlier in the week, it was reported that Israel passed a law punishing people who advocate for a boycott of the settlements. The law is definitely not only a blow to freedom of speech in Israel but also another act of repression against Palestinian solidarity activism in Israel.

BORDC has produced a powerful short video to explain the history of political repression by the FBI.

John Nichols writes that there’s nothing to worry about from Scott Walker’s fairly large vote support in this week’s recall primaries in Wisconsin. Walker didn’t have a serious challenger on the ballot and there was a contested race for the Democratic nominee on the other side. And yet Walker came

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed suit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, alleging discriminatory police conduct against Latino citizens. Federal authorities allege that Arpaio and his office have unconstitutionally and unlawfully targeted Latinos during traffic stops and during crime suppression operations. DOJ alleges that MCSO (Maricopa County

We’re still in the posturing phase of the fiscal cliff situation, and now we have another data point. Harry Reid has come out and said pretty forcefully that he will not roll back the trigger, the automatic cuts to defense and discretionary spending due at the end of the year,

A day after announcing himself evolved on marriage equality, President Obama heads to Hollywood for a fundraising dinner at George Clooney’s house that promises to raise a whopping $15 million. The campaign turned the event into a raffle, where a small donor could win “dinner with Barack and George,” and

The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an important case that could have wide-ranging implications for foreclosures in that state. The case, Roman Pino v. Bank of New York Mellon, could invalidate the ability of banks to refile documents in situations where the initial documents they filed to foreclose

The third-place party in the Greek elections, PASOK, has been given the opportunity to form a new government, after the first two parties failed in their efforts. Nobody expects PASOK to be successful, meaning that new elections will ensue, probably on June 17. By that time, decisions will need to