Seven Days in Solitary [1/5/14]

by | January 5, 2014

Solitary confinement news roundupThe 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.

The Indo American News reports on the story of Akaash Dalal, an Indian American teen who was arrested for bombing four New Jersey synagogues. Dalal pleaded guilty, and Dalal’s father claims that Akaash had nothing to do with the bombing. While he awaits his trial, he’s been living in solitary, “holed up in a tiny, windowless cell.”

• According to NBC, after launching a nationwide investigation of detainees’ deaths in restraint chairs, the NBC Charlotte I-Team found that more than “more than three dozen men and women” have died in restraint chairs around the country. Even with these findings, there is no widespread ban on the use of chairs, aside from several human rights groups.

In These Times reports on the solitary confinement of Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, a former member of the New African liberation movement convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1970. In 2005, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and although he merely pleads for human buy phentermine 30mg online contact, he still experiences confinement.

• In Trenton, New Jersey, the Juvenile Justice Commission and Rutgers University “have agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a federal lawsuit over the solitary confinement” of two boys who suffered from mental illness and were put into isolation for long stretches of time. Advocates hope that the settlement will decrease and change the future use of solitary confinement in the Juvenile Justice Commission.

The Washington Post reports that in Louisville, Kentucky, a pair of hearing-impaired prisoners sued the state of Kentucky for not providing proper interpreter services. According to the men’s representation, Deborah Golden, being deaf or hearing-impaired in prison is “like being in solitary confinement even though you’re in the middle of people.”

Amnesty International reports on the fate of Albert Woodfox, a member of the Angola 3, whose been held in solitary confinement for 40 years. On January 7th, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hold a hearing determining whether or not Albert will be removed from solitary, and perhaps whether or not he will be set free from prison entirely

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