Solitary Confinement at Pelican Bay: A Panel Discussion (San Francisco, CA)

Date 

Add to My Calendar Thursday, June 14, 2012 12:00am

Location 

Join us for a critical discussion on solitary confinement at Pelican Bay. Presented by the CCR, our panel will examine the use of solitary confinement in the U.S. criminal justice system, looking especially at the impact on those incarcerated. We will also explore recent litigation to address injustices and human rights violations in U.S. mass incarceration.

What: Solitary Confinement at Pelican Bay: A Panel Discussion
When: Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: The Women’s Building (3543 18th St #8, San Francisco, CA 94110)
Admission: FREE and open to the public!

On May 31, 2012, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed federal lawsuit Ruiz v. Brown on behalf of prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison who have spent between 10 and 28 years in solitary confinement.  The legal action is part of a larger movement to reform inhumane conditions in California prisons’ Security Housing Units (SHU), a movement sparked and dramatized by a 2011 hunger strike by thousands of SHU prisoners; the named plaintiffs include several leaders and participants from the hunger strike.  The class action suit, which is being jointly filed by CCR and several advocate and legal organizations in California, alleges that prolonged solitary confinement violates Eight Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, and that the absence of meaningful review for SHU placement violates the prisoners’ right to due process.

Featuring: Baher Azmy, Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights; Jerry Elster, Organizer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; Terry Kupers, Psychiatrist and faculty at The Wright Institute; Marilyn McMahon, Attorney and Executive Director at the California Prison Focus;  Carol Strickman, Staff Attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; and moderated by Nahal Zamani, Advocacy Program Manager at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Co-Sponsored by: ACLU OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA • ALL OF US OR NONE • CALIFORNIA PRISON FOCUS • CIVIL LIBERTIES DEFENSE CENTER • THE FREEDOM ARCHIVES • LEGAL SERVICES FOR PRISONERS WITH CHILDREN • NATIONAL COALITION TO PROTECT CIVIL FREEDOMS  • NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD SF BAY AREA CHAPTER AND SOLITARY WATCH.

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Last modified 

June 13, 2012