Injustice Inside

We recently received an email regarding the Senate Judiciary Committee’s second hearing concerning the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails, “Reassessing Solitary Confinement II: The Human Rights, Fiscal, and Public Safety Consequences.” (Information regarding the last hearing can be found here and here.) The hearing, to be chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), will be held on February [...]

On July 8, 2013, more than 30,000 California prisoners initiated a peaceful hunger strike in protest of the torture of long-term solitary confinement and inhumane living conditions to which they are subjected inside security housing units (SHU) throughout the state. Sixty days – and one death – later, prisoners suspended the strike. The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition has issued the following [...]

With the next legislative session approaching, lawmakers in Nebraska are ready to get to work on prison reform. The following comes from KLKN-TV: As the next legislative session approaches, lawmakers are ready to get to work with health care, tax modernization and prison reform… This session only lasts 60 days, which means there’s a lot of [...]

A US Judge approved today a request by California and federal officials to force-feed prisoners participating in the statewide hunger strike (view the legal filing here). The following comes from the Associated Press: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge approved a request from California and federal officials on Monday to force-feed inmates if necessary as [...]

A new report by the ACLU of Colorado finds that the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) continues to depend on long-term solitary confinement to manage prisoners suffering from mental illness. According to the ACLU, Out of Sight, Out of Mind draws on 18 months of research, including interviews with prisoners, analysis of CDOC data, site visits, and review of prisoner [...]

The following update on the California prison hunger strike comes from BohoBlog: It’s being called the largest hunger strike in California State history. As of Thursday, July 18, 1,457 inmates in fifteen state prisons continue to refuse food, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The hunger strike began on July 8 at Pelican Bay [...]

The following action alert comes from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: Greetings to all Pledge signers, Thank you for your support of the hunger strikers. As you may have heard, the hunger strike began in California on July 8 with 30,000 imprisoned people refusing to eat. Hundreds of media outlets have been covering this historic event. [...]

The The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is calling for a day of support for the California prison hunger strikers on Friday, July 19. Details follow. Stop Prison Torture! Tens of thousands people held in horrible conditions in U.S. prisons have gone on hunger strike to say NO MORE to torture.  These prisoners have put their health and lives [...]

The following discussion on the CDCR’s Security Threat Group (STG) Step Down Program for California SHU units comes from the Spring 2013 newsletter of Prisons.org. Creating broken men, Part 2: A discussion on CDCR’s new brainwashing mandate for SHU torture units by Zaharibu Dorrough, J. Heshima Denham, Kambui Robinson and Jabari Scott, NCTT Corcoran SHU “I [...]

The following post by N.C.T.T.-Cor-SHU was reblogged on Moorbey’z Blog today: 2013/06/28 | by moorbey Indeterminate SHU confinement is torture, and though not all those thus situated are in cells alone (some have cellies), this makes the torture no less acute, and in some ways even more challenging. Like all oppressed people, prisoners confined to these torture units must [...]