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No Budget Cuts for Federal Prisons
In the midst of an epic budget battle that could transform the American landscape for decades to come, the White House and Republicans in Congress appear to agree on one point: Federal prisons need...
View ArticleFirst Congressional Hearing on Solitary Confinement to Be Held June 19
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, chaired by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, has announced that it will hold a hearing later this month on solitary...
View ArticleReport from Senate Hearing on Solitary Confinement
Our report on today’s hearing was published by Mother Jones. It starts out this way: The cell placed at the back of the hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building was a pretty accurate replica...
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Federal Bureau of Prisons to Undergo Review of Solitary Confinement Practices
Cell at ADX federal supermax On Monday, the office of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin put out the following press release, announcing that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had agreed to submit to a...
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Feds to Open New Supermax Prison Cells at “Gitmo North”
Even as it announces a review and reduction of its solitary confinement practices, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirmed to Solitary Watch that a newly acquired prison ln Illinois will hold federal...
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Obama’s 2014 Budget Confirms Plans for “ADX Thomson,” New Federal Supermax...
The Obama Administration’s 2014 budget request for the Department of Justice, released this week, confirms that the federal government will open a second ultra-secure supermax prison within the next...
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Under Fire, the Federal Bureau of Prisons Audits Its Use of Solitary...
Solitary confinement cells at ADX Florence, the federal supermax in Colorado. Amidst growing criticism of its abundant use solitary confinement, the federal Bureau of Prisons has quietly set in motion...
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Seven Days in Solitary [2/16/14]
The following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts. • At the annual meeting of the...
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Way Down in the Hole: Senate Hearing Challenges Solitary Confinement for...
Damon Thibodeaux, who spent 15 years in solitary confinement on Louisiana’s death row, testifies at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on February 25. It didn’t take much reading between the...
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Funding Approved for Activation of ADX/USP Thomson, New Federal Supermax Prison
Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, IL (Photo: suntimes.com) Even as it touts new initiatives to reduce the number of people it holds in solitary confinement, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)...
View ArticleRising Criticism of Tamms Illinois Supermax
Some of the best reporting on solitary confinement last year came from Beth Hundsdorfer and George Pawlaczyk at the Belleville News-Democrat, a regional paper in southwestern Illinois. Their multi-part...
View ArticleAudit of Solitary Confinement in Federal Prisons: An Inside Job Reaches...
A long-awaited audit of the use of solitary and other forms of isolated confinement in the federal Bureau of Prison (BOP) recommends minor reforms while affirming the overall legitimacy and efficacy of...
View ArticleSeven Days in Solitary [3/15/2015]
The following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts. • A US District Judge has ruled...
View ArticleSenate Democrats Introduce Landmark Bill to Reform Solitary Confinement in...
A group of Democratic senators has introduced a bill that would for the first time place legal limitations on the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. The Solitary Confinement Reform Act (S....
View ArticleSeven Days in Solitary [4/22/18]
• A press release from the office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced the re-introduction of a bill called the Solitary Confinement Reform Act, which would mandate a reduction in the Bureau of...
View ArticleWhat Will the Midterms Mean for Solitary Confinement Reform?
This week, voters elected a new host of Democratic legislators and governors, flipping the balance of power in many state governments and in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although Democrats in...
View ArticleSeven Days in Solitary [3/11/19]
• The WAMU radio show “1A” hosted Terry Kupers, a leading expert on the psychological effects of solitary confinement, and Robert Hood, former warden of the ADX federal supermax in Florence, Colorado,...
View ArticleSeven Days in Solitary [11/18/19]
• Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) introduced a House Resolution that she calls “The People’s Justice Guarantee,” which lays out steps for a “humane and effective justice system,”“mass...
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