Solitary Confinement and Human Rights

Posted on November 9, 2012

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November 9 , 2012
8:30 am - 8:30 pm

Northeastern Illinois University
550 North St. Louis Ave
Chicago, IL

From The Midwest Coalition for Human Rights:

The Midwest Coalition for Human Rights, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, announce a national strategic convening on solitary confinement and human rights. This event will provide activists from across the country with the opportunity to network, share advocacy strategies and tactics, and investigate various arenas in which solitary confinement is used, including:

  • Immigration detention
  • Guantanamo Bay detention camp
  • Supermax detention facilities
  • Juvenile detention

***RSVP to Claire Leslie by October 26, 2012
cleslie@MidwestHumanRights.org or 612-624-8543

Featuring:

Dr. Craig Haney | Craig Haney is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was one of the principal researchers in the well-known Stanford Prison Experiment conducted 40 years ago and he has been studying actual prisons and jails since then, including solitary confinement units and supermax prisons across the country. Much of his prison research is discussed in his recent book, Reforming Punishment: Psychological Limits to the Pains of Imprisonment. Professor Haney’s research, writing, and testimony has been cited in numerous landmark legal cases challenging the constitutionality of extreme conditions of confinement, including severe overcrowding and long-term isolation. He recently testified before before the United States Senate in an historic hearing examining the nature and effects of solitary confinement.

Robert King | Robert Hillary King, A.K.A. Robert King Wilkerson, is part of a trio of American political prisoners collectively known as the “Angola Three”. “King”, as he is affectionately known, was serving a life sentence at Angola State Penitentiary as the result of a politically-motivated frame-up in the death of a fellow inmate. His membership in the only prison-recognized chapter of the Black Panther Party and organizing against prison injustices, resulted in his being targeted for retaliation by prison officials. King’s tenacity in proving his innocence finally came to fruition when a Federal Appeals Court finally adjured him “probably innocent”. In February 2001, after thirty-one years of imprisonment and twenty-nine continuous years of solitary confinement. King walked out of the gates of Angola a free man. From the moment of his release, he was worked tirelessly to spread the word about the continued plight, and innocence of his two remaining comrades, now held in solitary confinement for over thirty-one years.

And Many More:

Alexis Perlmutter – Acting Director of Policy, National Immigrant Justice Center
Barbara Frey – Director, University of Minnesota Human Rights Program
Heather Rice – Director of U.S. Prisons Policy and Program, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Ian Kysel – Aryeh Neier Fellow, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union
Jean Casella – Co-Director, Solitary Watch Laurie
Jo Reynolds – Founder and Organizer, Tamms Year Ten
Shobha Mahadev – Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern University Children and Family Justice Center
Susan Gzesh – Director, University of Chicago Human Rights Program
Zeke Johnson – Security with Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International USA

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