For Trayvon, Mumia & the Many More by Mark Louis Taylor Trayvon Martin and Mumia Abu-Jamal. One is dead. One languished on death row for thirty years. They are separated in age by a generation, separated by different locations and… Read More ›
Prisons
N.C. man no longer faces death after judge invokes ‘Racial Justice Act’
(CNN) — A North Carolina judge set aside the death sentence of a convicted killer after concluding Friday that race played a role in the case, a landmark ruling that may call into question a number of death row cases… Read More ›
Data Mining You
by Tom Engelhardt I was out of the country only nine days, hardly a blink in time, but time enough, as it happened, for another small, airless room to be added to the American national security labyrinth. On March 22,… Read More ›
Modern Chain Gangs: the Profitability of Prison Labor Today
States are increasingly utilizing prison labor to plug budget holes, but public employee unions aren’t happy. BY: Russell Nichols The Cañon City Correctional Complex in southern Colorado is a veritable city of prisoners. More than 8,000 inmates are housed in… Read More ›
Homeless mother who sent six-year-old son to better school in the wrong town jailed for five years
By Graham Smith A mother who pleaded guilty to fraudulently enrolling her six-year-old son in the wrong school district has been sentenced to five years in prison. Tonya McDowell sent her son to an elementary school in Norwalk, Connecticut, instead… Read More ›
Should Occupy Use Violence?
I Dunno, Should the Cops? by KEVIN CARSON Back in the mid-1980s, when the African National Congress was still fighting the South Africa’s apartheid regime, I recall Secretary of State George Schultz testifying before some Senate committee. He clutched his… Read More ›
From Pelican Bay: CDCR to offset prison population cut by putting more men in solitary
Three letters from core hunger strike organizers: Todd Ashker, Mutope Duguma (James Crawford), Arturo Castellanos by Todd Ashker Written Jan. 22, postmarked Jan. 27, 2012 – As soon as I first heard during our face to face meeting with former… Read More ›
Feeling death at our heels: An update from the frontlines of the struggle
from the NCTT Corcoran SHU “Death is impossible for us to fathom; it is so immense, so frightening that we will do almost anything to keep from thinking about it. Society is organized to make death invisible, to keep it… Read More ›
Aid group quits Libyan prisons over torture
(CBS/AP) BENGHAZI, Libya – The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said Thursday it has suspended its work in prisons in the Libyan city of Misrata because it said detainees are being tortured and denied urgent medical care. Additionally, Amnesty… Read More ›
The National Defense Authorization Act Explained
The Indefinite Detention of American Citizens by JOANNE MARINER Passed by the House and Senate last week, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) now awaits the president’s signature. Because of its controversial provisions on indefinite detention, President Obama had threatened… Read More ›
New Bill Allows Military To Detain You Indefinitely
It’s a bad sign when George W. Bush’s defense team thinks that a military bill goes too far in violating your rights. But we’ve got just that with the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act. This bill authorizes the… Read More ›
Former Black Panther Abu-Jamal Spared from Legal Lynching
Pennsylvania will no longer pursue execution for radical activist Abu-Jamal in 1981 murder of white police officer One of the most bitter battles over capital punishment in a generation has ended with victory for reformers after prosecutors in Pennsylvania abandoned… Read More ›
Privately-Owned CCA-Run Prison Remains Idaho’s most Violent Lockup
(AP) BOISE, Idaho — In the last four years, Idaho’s largest privately run prison has faced federal lawsuits, widespread public scrutiny, increased state oversight, changes in upper management and even an ongoing FBI investigation. Yet the Corrections Corp. of America-run… Read More ›
Californian prisoners hunger strike: 12,000 protest jail conditions
Thousands of inmates at up to eight Californian prisons have been on hunger strike for over a week in protest at what they feel is unfair treatment at the hands of prison authorities. Estimates suggest that there could be up… Read More ›
Over 1,000 Attend Troy Davis’ Funeral
Sent to death row 20 years ago as a convicted cop killer, Troy Davis was celebrated as “martyr and foot soldier” Saturday by more than 1,000 people who packed the pews at his funeral and pledged to keep fighting the… Read More ›
The Red Phoenix 