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“Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes)
Loaded on Jan. 10, 2017
by Lance Tapley
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2017, page 16
Filed under:
Commentary/Reviews,
Reviews,
Immigration,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement,
Tapes/Music.
Location:
Maine.
Written by George Swanson, a folksinger and Episcopal priest, this unusual folk opera tells how Victor Valdez, a sickly, working-class immigrant from the Dominican Republic, died in 2009 in solitary confinement at the Maine State Prison – and how the causes of his death were covered up.
The …
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More from this issue:
- Culture of Abuse and Corruption Plagues Jail in Denver, Colorado, by Lonnie Burton
- Texas: Complaint Filed Over Contaminated Water, Conditions at Eastham Unit, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- Michigan: Contract for Prisoner Legal Writer Program Results in Controversy
- Rundown on California Propositions 57 and 64, by Kent A. Russell
- Illinois: DNA Evidence Exonerates One Man, Implicates Another
- Imprisoned Author Denied Access to His Own Published Writing
- Seventh Circuit Tells Wisconsin Probationer with Gender Dysphoria how to Proceed, by Matthew Clarke
- Georgia Prison Guards Face Sexual Assault Charges
- Judge Rips DOJ Lawyers for “Series of Misrepresentations,” Orders Ethics Training, by Derek Gilna
- Krome Detention Center has Long History of Detainee Abuse, by David Reutter
- $28.1 Million Jury Award after Eighth Circuit Allows Conspiracy Claims in Nebraska Wrongful Conviction Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- New York: Nearly $10 Million in Settlements Over Denial of Medical Care at Rikers Island
- Michigan’s Wayne County Jails Plagued with Inhumane Conditions
- Michigan: Corizon Audit Finds Deficiencies, State Extends and Expands Contract Anyway
- Model Mental Health Care Diversion System Started by Miami Judge, by David Reutter
- Nebraska: Portions of Lawsuit over Guard’s Sexual Assault Allowed to Proceed
- BOP Prisoner’s FTCA Wage Suit States Cause of Action
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- Two Fulton County Jail Employees Subject to Liability in Detainee’s Suicide
- FCI Danbury Prisoners Finally Transferred to New Women’s Facility
- Increased Access to Higher Education Programs for California Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- Deaths Due to Neglect in U.S. Jails Reflect Nation’s Values , by David Reutter
- Mississippi: Hinds County Jails in Crisis, Face Mandated Reforms, by David Reutter
- New York DA Supervisor Engages in Kinky Fetishes, Wife Claims, by Derek Gilna
- Report Finds Charging Criminal Justice Fees Perpetuates Mass Incarceration, by Matthew Clarke
- Hawaii Warden Subjected Female Prisoners to “Shame Therapy”
- Correctional Medical Care Pays $425,000 Settlement in Prisoner’s Opiate Withdrawal Death
- Securus Phone Rates Spark Uprising at Alaska Prison , by Joe Watson
- Georgia’s Supreme Court Rules on Private Probation Services
- State University of New York “Bans the Box” on Student Applications
- Dear Librarian: Filling the Information Gap for Prisoners with No Internet Access , by Christopher Zoukis
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- Shackled South African Prisoner Beaten by GEO Guards Wins Lawsuit, by Derek Gilna
- Recurring Injury Subsequent to Lawsuit Settlement No Bar to New Claim
- Ninth Circuit Vacates Generalized Order to Shackle Pretrial Defendants, En Banc Review Granted
- $325,002 Award to Michigan Prisoner Denied Medical Care for Joint Pain
- Second Circuit Expands Protections from Sexual Abuse by Prison Staff, by Derek Gilna
- Orleans Parish Jail Settles Prisoner Suicide Suit for $1.75 Million, by Derek Gilna
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- Child Support Relief Coming for Incarcerated Parents
- Tennessee Sheriff Indicted, Suspended and Jailed Over E-cig Business
- Michigan Jail Subject of Wrongful Death Lawsuit and PLN Censorship Suit
- New York Prison Scrutinized, Employees Charged Following High-profile Escape, by Derek Gilna
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- NTSB Faults Texas Prison Guard, Road Crews in Transport Bus Deaths, by Derek Gilna
- California County Settles Class-action Lawsuit Over Jail Medical and Mental Health Care, by Matthew Clarke
- PLN Goes Undercover to Bust CCA Employees’ Misuse of Prisoner Labor
- Too Little, Too Late: Prosecutor Remorseful for Sending Innocent Man to Death Row, by David Reutter
- “Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes), by Lance Tapley
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
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:
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Ombuds Report Doesn’t Rule Out Racism or Retaliation at Red Onion State Prison, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Treat, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- 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.

