solitary confinement Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to solitary confinement

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  • Amys_column_default

    Starving for Justice at Guantanamo

    By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan

    Reports are emerging from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay that a majority of the prisoners are on a hunger strike.
    Mar 13, 2013 | Columns & Articles
  • Amys_column_default

    Albert Woodfox’s 40 Years of Solitary Confinement

    By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan

    Albert Woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 40 years, most of that time locked up in the notorious maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary known as “Angola.”
    Feb 28, 2013 | Columns & Articles
  • Albert_woodfox

    After 40 Years in Solitary, Angola 3 Prisoner Albert Woodfox Ordered Freed for 3rd Time in Louisiana

    A federal judge has once again ordered the state of Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. Woodfox and Herman Wallace, another prisoner of the "Angola 3," were convicted of murdering a guard at Angola Prison. The Angola 3 and their supporters say they were framed for their political activism. On Tuesday, the same federal judge that ordered Woodfox’s...
    Feb 28, 2013 | Story
  • Bauer

    Part Two: Shane Bauer: "Solitary in Iran Nearly Broke Me. Then I Went Inside America's Prisons"

    In his first live television interview since his release from Iranian prison, journalist Shane Bauer shines the light on solitary confinement inside the California prison system. Bauer was one of three Americans detained in 2009 while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdish region near the Iranian border. He and Josh Fattal were held by Iran for 26 months, and Sarah Shourd — now Bauer’s wife — was held for 13 months, much of it in solitary...
    Oct 22, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • Mumia_opt2

    "Long Distance Revolutionary": New Documentary Tells Untold Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal's Life Journey

    The new documentary, "Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal," chronicles Abu-Jamal’s life and work as a journalist, writer and public intellectual, even as he spent some 30 years on death row in Pennsylvania. In 1982, Abu-Jamal was sentenced to die for allegedly killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He has always maintained his innocence. Then, last year, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...
    Oct 22, 2012 | Story
  • Bauer

    EXCLUSIVE: "No Way Out" - Freed Hiker Shane Bauer on Solitary Confinement from Iran to United States

    Shane Bauer was one of three Americans detained in 2009 while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdish region near the Iranian border. He and Josh Fattal were held for 26 months, and Sarah Shourd — now Bauer’s wife — was held for 13 months, much of it in solitary confinement. Seven months after being freed from prison in Iran, Bauer began investigating solitary confinement in the United States. Now, in his first major article since his...
    Oct 22, 2012 | Story
  • Graves_hearing

    Torture in U.S. Prisons? Historic Senate Hearing Takes Up Solitary Confinement's Devastating Toll

    In the first-ever hearing of its kind, a Senate panel heard testimony this week on the psychological and human rights implications of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. While defenders of solitary confinement claim it is needed to control the most violent prisoners, many of the people called to testify at the hearing described how it can cause intense suffering and mental illness. We’re joined by Anthony Graves, a former Texas prisoner...
    Jun 22, 2012 | Story
  • Graves_dn_boxes2

    From Death Row to Exoneration: Fmr. Texas Prisoner Anthony Graves on Surviving Solitary Confinement

    In a rare interview, former Texas death row prisoner Anthony Graves joins us to recount his experience in solitary confinement and how he was fully exonerated and released from prison in 2010. Graves was convicted in 1994 of assisting Robert Carter, a man he barely knew, in the brutal murders of six people. There was no physical evidence linking Graves to the crime, and his conviction relied primarily on Carter’s testimony. Before he was...
    Jun 22, 2012 | Story
  • Angola 3

    40 Years in Solitary Confinement: Two Members of Angola 3 Remain in Isolation in Louisiana Prison

    It’s been 40 years to the day — since April 17, 1972, or 14,600 days ago — that Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox have been held in solitary confinement in Louisiana. The state says they were guilty of murdering a guard at Angola Prison, but Wallace, Woodfox and their network of supporters say they were framed for their political activism as members of the Black Panthers. Woodfox and Wallace founded the Angola chapter of the...
    Apr 17, 2012 | Story
  • Rikersisland_button

    NYC Criticized for Failing to Evacuate Prisoners at Rikers Island Ahead of Hurricane

    Even though Hurricane Irene prompted a series of extraordinary measures in New York City — a complete shutdown of the public transit system and mass evacuations on an unprecedented scale — officials did not take any steps to evacuate some 12,000 prisoners held in a city jail on Rikers Island. According to the New York City Department of Corrections website, more than three-quarters of Rikers Island’s 400 acres are built on landfill,...
    Aug 29, 2011 | Story