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Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement
Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement
by Lance Tapley
In 1986, Ojore Lutalo, a black revolutionary in Trenton State Prison – now the New Jersey State Prison – wrote to Bonnie Kerness’ American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) office in Newark. His letter described the extreme isolation and ...
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More from this issue:
- Update on PLN Suit Against Nevada DOC
- Seventh Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Diabetic Detainee’s Death, by Mark Wilson
- SEC Rejects CCA, GEO Group Shareholder Resolutions to Reduce Prison Phone Rates
- Administrators Fired at Privately-Run Texas Jail
- Systemic Changes Follow Murder of Colorado Prison Director, by John Dannenberg
- Prison Closures Cause Economic Turmoil
- Do Faith-Based Prisons Work?, by Alexander Volokh
- North Carolina Repeals Racial Justice Law
- North Carolina: Hundreds of Federal Prisoners Legally Innocent, Some Still Incarcerated, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Admits Prisoner is Right but Denies Relief, Suggests Clemency
- New York Prisoner Awarded Sanctions for Spoliation of Evidence; Case Settles for $500,000, by Mark Wilson
- Judge May Resolve Exhaustion Issue; No Policy on Grievance Non-decisions Means Remedies Unavailable, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Dental Care Suit, by David Reutter
- Prison Officials Liable for Private Employer ADA Violations, by Mark Wilson
- Habeas Petitioner Cannot Avoid Payment of Appellate Filing Fees, by Michael Brodheim
- Oregon Victim’s Right to Restitution Survives Prosecutor’s Statutory Violation, by Mark Wilson
- England, Increasing Number of States Allow Same-Sex Prisoner Marriages or Civil Unions
- Illinois $50 State’s Attorney Fee Applies Only to Habeas Proceedings, by Mark Wilson
- Flimsy Reasons for Prolonged, Frequent Lockdowns State Eighth Amendment Claim, by David Reutter
- BOP Grievance System Contributes to “Compliance or Defiance” by Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- New York Jail Guard Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Seven Prisoners
- Brady Violations Result in Habeas Relief for Pennsylvania Death Row Prisoner, by David Reutter
- Kentucky Prisoner’s Due Process Rights Violated in Disciplinary Hearing, by Robert Warlick
- Jury’s Tasteless Gag Gifts to Judge and Bailiff Fail to Demonstrate Unfair Trial
- Prison Industries in India Compete in Open Market
- Visitors Fingerprinted at Alabama Prisons
- Two Murders in Seven Months at CCA-run Prison in Tennessee
- Decline in Arrests of Los Angeles County Probation Officers
- Louisiana Public Service Commission Considers Prison Phone Issues
- Ninth Circuit: Damages Required for Compelled Religious-Based Treatment, by Mark Wilson
- Eighth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Detainee’s Overdose Death, by Mark Wilson
- Prisoners Unlikely to Benefit from New, Highly Effective Hepatitis C Treatment, by Greg Dober
- Oregon Parole Board: “Don’t Have to Explain Nothing to Nobody”
- Preliminary Injunction Entered in PLN Censorship Suit Against Ventura County, California
- Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement, by Lance Tapley
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
- Two Corrections Chiefs Serve Time in Segregation, by Christopher Zoukis
More from Lance Tapley:
- “Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes), Jan. 10, 2017
- Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement, July 9, 2014
- No Death Penalty for Maine Prisoner, April 15, 2014
- A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax", March 15, 2014
- Prison Reforms Under Maine’s New DOC Commissioner, March 15, 2013
- Solitary Confinement: Bad for Chimps, Okay for Humans?, Oct. 15, 2012
- Reform Comes to Maine Supermax: New commissioner cuts population by more than half; prisoner rights advocates help in the reform, Sept. 15, 2011
- Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, by Robert Perkinson, Metropolitan Books/Holt, 484 pp (October 2010), $20.00 paperback, May 15, 2011
- Maine Governor Rakes in Private Prison Money, Shows Appreciation, April 15, 2011
- Mass Torture in America: Notes from the Supermax Prisons, Feb. 15, 2011
More from these topics:
- New York Prison Officials Found Routinely Violating HALT Act With Overuse of Solitary Confinement, Feb. 15, 2025. Disciplinary Hearings, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Oregon Holds BLM Protestor in Solitary Confinement for 250 Days, Feb. 15, 2025. Protests, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Racial Profiling, Prison Classification.
- Pennsylvania Prisoner Released from Solitary After 15 Years, Jan. 15, 2025. Disabled Prisoners, Settlements, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- Six Set Themselves on Fire at Virginia Prison in 2024, Jan. 15, 2025. Retaliation, Protests, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fire to the Prisons Magazine.
- Suicidal Texas Prisoners Held in Phone-Booth-Size “Containment Cages”, Dec. 15, 2024. Strip Cells, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Suicides.
- Texas Holds 1 in 41 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement, Oct. 15, 2024. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses, Oct. 15, 2024. Jail Misconduct, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Abuse of Discretion Standard.
- $7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail, Oct. 15, 2024. Settlements, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Suicides.
- First Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Massachusetts Officials Who Held Prisoner in Solitary for Two Years Without Hearing, Sept. 15, 2024. Qualified Immunity, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Hearings.
- New York City Mayor Blocks Solitary Confinement Ban After Council Overrides His Veto, Sept. 15, 2024. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, State Legislation.