Climate justice activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that later was found to be corrupt, is finally free. He appeared on “Democracy Now!” this morning to give his first interview since being released Sunday from the halfway house where he [...]

For over eleven years, a British prisoner at Guantanamo Bay has been held in detention without charge or trial. He has been cleared for release twice and suffered torture. He has been subject to conditions of solitary confinement for his participation in hunger strikes and for asserting that others in the prison have human rights. [...]

An environmental activist, who was prosecuted by the Justice Department for engaging in acts the department considers to be terrorism, has found out through a lawsuit of which he is a plaintiff that he was transferred to a prison in Marion, Illinois, and held in isolation for his political speech. Daniel McGowan, who had a [...]

Journalists with the web-based project dedicated to bringing attention to the widespread use of solitary confinement, Solitary Watch, report the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is going to be expanding the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois to hold federal prisoners in supermax conditions. This means cells will be holding prisoners in conditions of solitary confinement and [...]

A federal judge ruled earlier this week the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) has violated the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoners by not providing adequate mental health care. It had violated mentally ill prisoners by subjecting them to conditions that amounted to solitary confinement and only worsened their illness. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [...]

“My convictions are unwavering and will not be shaken by their harassment. Today is October 10th, 2012 and I am ready to go to prison,” declared Leah Plante, in a statement issued before going to jail. Plante was imprisoned at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center in Seattle on October 11 for refusing to cooperate with [...]

This election, Charlie Savage of the New York Times writes, will decide the future of “interrogation methods in terrorism cases,” whether torture techniques used by the administration of President George W. Bush are restored. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney favors “enhanced interrogation techniques” or torture. President Barack Obama has maintained certain torture techniques should not [...]

(update below) A “primer” from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seems to encourage the use of isolation to break down prisoners in overseas prisons. Published in 2011, it advocates the use of this coercive measure to break detainees ahead of interrogations, which violates or runs contrary to FBI policy. The American Civil Liberties Union [...]

At Fort Meade, the defense presented arguments in favor of a request to have witnesses appear in August when the court deliberates over the unlawful pretrial punishment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks. The defense had requested seven witnesses. Two were challenged by the government. The government also [...]

A historic congressional hearing on solitary confinement in United States’ prisons happened on Tuesday. It was held by the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Chaired by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the hearing was the first-ever hearing on the use of isolation in prisons and the human rights, fiscal, and [...]