19 Feb 2016

After Release, Albert Woodfox Pledges To Fight For End To ‘Barbarous Use of Solitary’

Albert Woodfox, known as one of the “Angola 3,” was finally released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. He spent over four decades in solitary confinement, and had his conviction for second-degree murder overturned three times. Each time, despite clear evidence of abuse and corruption, the state of Louisiana

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26 Jan 2016

Obama Limits Solitary Confinement As Government Plans New Supermax Facility

President Barack Obama announced his administration will take action to limit the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. The actions, determined by recommendations made by a Justice Department task force in July 2015, include a ban on the use of solitary confinement against juveniles and as a response to low-level infractions. The administration

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15 Nov 2015

Podcast: Rikers Island Reforms Solitary Confinement with Pre-Crime and New Isolation Units

There has been a push by activists, advocacy organizations, and concerned citizens in New York to reform solitary confinement. Yet, at Rikers Island prison, the city recently adopted a “rehabilitative” reform, which developed a new system of solitary confinement for inmates in order to accomplish solitary confinement reforms. Independent journalist Raven

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11 Nov 2015

New York City Postpones Elimination Of Solitary Confinement For Young Adults

New York City’s Board of Correction voted on Tuesday to delay the elimination of solitary confinement for young adults until the end of February 2016.

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11 Nov 2015

Dissenting Against Another Unjust Retrial Of Albert Woodfox By State Of Louisiana

Although a court just ruled that Albert Woodfox could be retried, Judge James L. Dennis objected to the years of torture the state has put Woodfox through.

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13 Oct 2015

CIA Torture Architects Sued by Former Detainees for Water Dousing & Other Methods

The ACLU sued two psychologists contracted by the CIA to develop, implement, and personally administer an experimental torture program in the War on Terror.

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05 Oct 2015

Long-Awaited Criminal Justice Reform Introduced In Senate

A bipartisan criminal justice reform bill introduced in the Senate last week includes changes to mandatory minimum sentences for low level drug offenses.

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22 Sep 2015

Buried Alive: Solitary Confinement In U.S. Prisons (VIDEO)

American Friends Service Network: At any given time, there are more than 80,000 people in solitary confinement in prisons across the United States—locked up in closed cells for at least 23 hours every day and deprived of human contact for months, years, even decades.

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22 Sep 2015

New York City Council Adopts Eight Bills For Transparency, Oversight Of Jails

Last week, the New York City Council sent eight bills to Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s desk aimed at bringing greater transparency to the city’s jails. The wave of legislation was introduced this past spring and its passage marks the latest efforts by the city to reign in the brutal culture of violence and impunity that has reigned inside its jails for years.

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02 Sep 2015

California Agrees To Restrict Use of Long-Term Solitary Confinement

California has agreed to restrict the use of long-term solitary confinement in a settlement agreement filed in federal court this week. Restrictions are expected to reduce the number of inmates in isolation, cap the number of continuous years an inmate can spend in solitary confinement to five, and establish measures by which inmates can more easily achieve release back to general population.

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