Torture by Design: Saying No to the Architecture of Solitary Confinement (tags)
Friday, August 16 marked the 40th consecutive day of a multi-ethnic statewide prisoner hunger strike initiated from inside the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of California's Pelican Bay State Prison. As the horror of solitary confinement comes under increasing scrutiny in the US and around the world, human rights activists are confronting this public health and safety epidemic from a variety of angles. One group, called Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility has challenged solitary confinement in US prisons by recently launching a Change.org petition asking the American Institute of Architects to amend its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to prohibit the design of spaces for killing, torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
To Feb 25 CA Hearing -Amnesty Intl: Proposed reforms will not alleviate the inhumanity... (tags)
Amnesty International has released a statement a few days before the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing scheduled for 25 February. The hearing will review the reforms proposed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for the Security Housing Units (SHUs) and hear testimony from prison advocates, lawyers and family members.
New anti-solitary confinement petition to CA Gov. Brown (tags)
Please sign the petition to California Governor Jerry Brown: Stop the abuse of solitary confinement in CA prisons!
Amnesty International Denounces Torture in California Prisons --Interview w/ Tessa Murphy (tags)
2 weeks after the release of Amnesty Intl’s new report on the use of prolonged solitary confinement inside California’s ‘Security Housing Units’ (SHUs), entitled "The Edge of Endurance," prisoners initiated another hunger strike, with 500 participants statewide. In this new interview, Tessa Murphy speaks about her visit to California SHUs and Amnesty's report based on the visit.
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.