Recovered from FSRN’s earlier site via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Originally published June 19, 2012.
In Washington today, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened its first-ever hearing on solitary confinement. Over the last several years, opposition to the practice has grown, with thousands of prisoners across the country launching hunger strikes to demand more humane conditions. The practice is also being challenged in the courts after human rights advocates filed a class action lawsuit in California last month arguing that solitary confinement is “cruel and unusual punishment” and a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Now, some Senators have vowed to push for major reforms. On Capitol Hill, FSRN’s Alice Ollstein reports.
