Albert Woodfox: 41 Years in Solitary Unjustly (tags)
police state
Herman Wallace: Free at Last (tags)
police state
Opening the Box: Sarah Shourd on Herman Wallace, CA Hunger Strikers & Solitary Confinement (tags)
Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 has been transferred out of solitary confinement, as Louisiana’s Hunt prison reduced his classification from maximum to medium security. Herman is now staying at the prison hospital in a 10-bunk dorm, with access to a day room, and does not have to wear leg irons anymore. While celebrating the more human conditions, Herman and the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 emphasize that the transfer from solitary is not enough. They are asking folks to continue supporting Amnesty International’s call for humane release.
Reforming Prison’s Harshest Tactic –The Angola 3 case may help change the... (tags)
The Angola 3 case may help change the arbitrary and sometimes abusive use of solitary confinement.
Freedom for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3, After 40 Years in Solitary Confinement? (tags)
After four decades of solitary confinement in the nation's most populated maximum-security prison -- and one of its most historically brutal -- a member of the internationally known "Angola 3" has reasonable cause to expect that he will soon be released, his attorneys and supporters say. The request to set free Albert Woodfox, 65, is being heard by the same federal judge who in 2008 ordered that Woodfox be released, a ruling that Louisiana prosecutors successfully appealed and blocked.
Buried Alive Cruel and Unusual Punishsment (tags)
torture
ACTION ALERT: Transfer Mumia Abu-Jamal to General Population! (tags)
Last month, following the Philadelphia DA's decision to not hold a new sentencing hearing, Mumia Abu-Jamal was transferred to SCI Mahanoy, in Frackville, PA, where he as since been held in "Administrative Custody." His present conditions are actually worse than they were on death row at SCI Greene. Please join us in our call for Mumia to be immediately transferred into general population.
California Prison Crisis Sparks Statewide Hunger Strike --interview w/ Critical Resistance (tags)
We discuss the recent statewide hunger strike initiated by prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison. The strike is put in context, alongside a statewide grassroots movement calling for cuts in prison spending to address California?s budget crisis, and a recent US Supreme Court ruling that calls for the reduction of California state prisoners by at least 30,000, in response to overcrowding.
Will Jerry Brown Close Pelican Bay Prison? (tags)
Democratic Governor Jerry Brown is under a federal mandate to release thousands of prisoners from California's overcrowded concentration camp-prisons. Abolishing the entire prison-punishment system and the death penalty would be best, replacing it with job training for decent-paying jobs in one year for those under 50 and lifetime good pensions for those over 50. He could start by closing Pelican Bay Prison, a vicious hellhole that would make Hitler proud.
The Real Cost of Prisons --An interview with Lois Ahrens (tags)
The racist sub-text of the neo-liberal political agenda succeeded in creating acceptance of mass incarceration while simultaneously creating the laws and industries to police, prosecute, cage and control millions of people?almost all poor people and people of color. Neo-liberal policies have been in place for more than thirty years. As a result many people are not aware that our current political and economic situation is not the result of a natural course of events, but rather, of a systemically created ideology that has pervaded every aspect of our daily lives.
What's Next for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3? (tags)
A federal appeals court just delivered a crushing blow to prisoners' rights. Yesterday, a ruling by a federal appeals court ensured that for the forseeable future, Albert Woodfox will remain right where he has been for the last three decades: in a 6 x 9 cell in the heart of America’s largest and most notorious prison.
The Mark of Cain: God and Man at Angola Prison (tags)
This article by James Ridgeway is featured at a brand new website focusing on the issue of solitary confinement in prisons. The Solitary Watch News site (http://www.solitarywatch.wordpress.com) is part of an emerging project called Solitary Watch, an innovative public web site aimed at bringing this issue out of the shadows and into the light of the public square.