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Unlock the Box: Documenting the Struggle to Shut Down Prison Control Units, Reel Soldier Productions / MIM (www.abolishcontrolunits.org) 2008, 2:00 hours
Loaded on May 15, 2009
by David Preston
published in Prison Legal News
May, 2009, page 16
Filed under:
Political Prisoners,
Reviews,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
United States of America.
Unlock the Box: Documenting the Struggle to Shut Down Prison Control Units, Reel Soldier Productions / MIM (www.abolishcontrolunits.org) 2008, 2:00 hours
Reviewed by David Preston (DP_Editor@comcast.net)
The new documentary Unlock the Box is the upshot of two public conferences: “Unlock the Box,” held in 2005, in San Francisco, and …
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More from this issue:
- Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic, by Gary Hunter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Billionaire-Funded California Voter Initiative Triples Lifer Parole Denial Intervals, Imposes Restrictions on Parole Violators
- Prisoner’s Death, Abusive and Incompetent Guards Give Black Eye to Maryland Prisons & Jails, by Gary Hunter
- Unlock the Box: Documenting the Struggle to Shut Down Prison Control Units, Reel Soldier Productions / MIM (www.abolishcontrolunits.org) 2008, 2:00 hours, by David Preston
- State Auditor: Texas Prisoners Face Retaliation for Airing Grievances, by Matthew Clarke
- Washington’s Top Prison Doctor Resigns Over Executions; Entire Execution Team Later Quits Following PLN Records Request, by Mark Wilson
- New York Prisoner Receives $3,732 for Medical Neglect/Lost Property Claim
- Caging Kids for Cash: Two Pennsylvania Judges Guilty of Selling Out Juvenile Justice System, by Matthew Clarke
- Wisconsin Prisoners Sexually Assaulted by 20 Staff Members Over Five Years, by Gary Hunter
- $1 Million Settlement Fund Established in New Mexico Jail Strip Search Settlement, by David Reutter
- TYC Leaders Straining Public Coffers; Agency Still Problematic, by Gary Hunter
- California County’s 2005 Purchase of Private Prison Still Clouded in Conflict of Interest Questions, by Marvin Mentor
- CA Jail Deputies Allegedly Provoke Murder of Misidentified Child Molester by Other Prisoners; Wrongful Death Suit Settled for $600,000
- Conditions in Maricopa County, Arizona Jails Still Unconstitutional, by Matthew Clarke
- Hawai’i Supreme Court Holds Takings Clause Requires Payment of Interest on Prisoner Trust Accounts, by David Reutter
- Study Shows Treating HCV in Prisons with Pegylated Interferon Is Cost-Effective, by Matthew Clarke
- Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment, by John Dannenberg
- Washington DOC Agrees to Pay $850,000 to Family of Victim Killed by Drunk Driver Under Community Supervision
- Private Prison Company Cleans Up Texas Creek, Finally Gets Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- Criminal Defense Attorney Helps “Sting” His Own Clients, by Jimmy Franks
- Oregon Jail Oversight Committee Disbanded After Sheriff Resigns
- U.S. Military Uses Small Wooden Boxes for Segregation Cells of Iraqi Prisoners
- Prisoners Used for 2008 Voter Registration, Election Campaigning
- Double Standard of Punishment for Supervisors, Line Staff in Colorado DOC, by Gary Hunter
- Ex-Convict Demoted After Mismanaging Reentry Program
- Florida Prison Officials’ Failure to Timely Respond to Grievances Results in Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
- Mock Prison Disaster Program Discontinued; Mock Prison Riot Training Remains, by Gary Hunter
- Prisons and Jails Preparing for Switch to Digital TV Broadcasting ... or Not, by Matthew Clarke
- California Prison Fined $40,000 for (Another) Raw Sewage Spill
- Second Prisoner Unconditionally Released from Washington State Civil Commitment Center
- New Jersey Judge Denied Sex Offender a Fair Hearing, Appellate Court Finds
- $95,000 Awarded After NY Court Officers Fail to Transmit Protective Custody Order to DOC and Rape Occurs
- Eighth Circuit: Missouri Prisoner Has Right to Elective Abortion
- South Dakota Jail Prisoner Awarded $1.1 Million for Rape by Guard
- Los Angeles County Pays $850,000 for Police Misconduct Death and $595,000 in Jail Medical-Related Death
- Executioner Banned in Missouri but Available for Hire Elsewhere, by John Dannenberg
- Ninth Circuit: “Supervised Release” is Not “Imprisonment”
- California Prisoner-Pay Deductions for Aiding Crime Victims Distributed to Victim Organizations
- $75,000 Settlement in Utah Jail Prisoner’s Suicide
- Federal Supervised Release Must be Credited for Time Served on Prior Revocations
- Bivens Action Unavailable Against Federal Private Prison Employees
- Ninth Circuit Remands RLUIPA Claim for Group Religious Worship in Maximum Security Jail
- $7,025 Award in Slip and Fall From Ohio Prison Bunk
- Court Rejects Federal Prisoner Worker’s Claim of Copyright Infringement
- Ninth Circuit: Former Gang Member Entitled to Jury Trial in § 1983 Jail Guard Retaliation Suit
- Oregon Jail Suicide Nets $59,422
- Michigan Auditor General: DOC Overspends Millions on Overtime, by Matthew Clarke
- News in Brief:
- Four BOP Guards Sentenced To Prison For Beating, Cover-Up
More from David Preston:
- American Methods: Torture and the Logic of Domination, by Kristian Williams, South End Press, 279 pages, Nov. 15, 2009
- Columbia Jail Journal: The Compelling, Exclusive Inside Story of the Columbia Three, by James Monaghan, Brandon Press, 277 pages, Oct. 15, 2009
- Unlock the Box: Documenting the Struggle to Shut Down Prison Control Units, Reel Soldier Productions / MIM (www.abolishcontrolunits.org) 2008, 2:00 hours, May 15, 2009
- Writ Writer: One Man's Journey for Justice, Feb. 15, 2009
- An Execution in the Family: One Son’s Journey, by Robert Meeropol; St. Martin’s Griffin, 273 pages, $14.95, Dec. 15, 2008
- Snitch: Informants, Cooperators & the Corruption of Justice, by Ethan Brown Public Affairs Publishing, 273 pages, $25.95, Nov. 15, 2008
- Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA’s Rendition Flights, 
by Trevor Paglen and A.C. Thompson. 
Melville House Publishing, 205 pages, $23.00, Oct. 15, 2008
- Crazy In America: The Hidden Tragedy Of Our Criminalized Mentally Ill, by Mary Beth Pfieffer (Carroll & Graf, 2007, 280 pp. $15.95), May 15, 2008
More from these topics:
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Class Certification Granted to Suit Challenging Suspension of HALT Act in New York Prisons, April 1, 2026. Injunctions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fifth Amendment, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prison Classification.
- New York City Mayor Appoints Ex-Rikers Prisoner as Corrections Commissioner, March 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Staffing, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- After Exposing Prison Horrors, Incarcerated Whistleblowers Are Moved to Solitary, Feb. 1, 2026. Whistleblowing, Retaliatory Segregation, Work Strikes, Totality of Conditions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $404,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Brutalized by Trio of Guards, Kept in Solitary for Two Years, Jan. 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliatory Segregation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- U.S. District Court in Arizona Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Prisoner Denial of Forms for Challenging 455 Days of Solitary, Jan. 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Chemical Spraying of Mentally Ill Inmates, Deliberate Indifference.
- First Circuit Greenlights Rhode Island Prisoner’s Damages Suit for Disastrous 450-Day Solitary Confinement, Dec. 1, 2025. Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Deliberate Indifference.
- Suicidal West Virginia Prisoner Granted Transfer From 13-Year Solitary Confinement, Dec. 1, 2025. Contempt (Civil Procedure), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Deliberate Indifference.
- Suit by Mentally Disabled Detainees at South Carolina Jail Secures Class Certification; No Action on Damning DOJ Report, Dec. 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), DOJ CRIPA Actions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).

