In this inaugural event of a four-part series marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11, artists, lawyers, and scholars will be reflecting on the impact of the post-9/11 “global security”...
Updated: August 26, 2021
Archeology Firm Identifies Five Additional Possible Cemeteries, Concludes Formosa’s Consultants Repeatedly Looked in Wrong Place for One of Them March 11, 2020, St. James Parish – Today, community...
December 31, 2014, New York – In response to the news that five men – three Yemenis and two Tunisians – were transferred from Guantánamo to Kazakhstan yesterday, the Center...
Marsha Scaggs is 56 years old and is currently imprisoned at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs in Pennsylvania. Marsha is serving a Death By Incarceration sentence (more commonly known as Life Without Parole) after being convicted of felony murder. Marsha was prosecuted after an altercation with the victim in her case resulted in her co-defendant killing the victim; she was not responsible for the killing nor did she have any intention for that to happen. She was 23 years old at the time. Marsha has been incarcerated since 1987 and has spent over 30 years—more than half of her life—in prison. She is a plaintiff in Scott v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, a lawsuit that argues that Pennsylvania's mandatory life sentences without the eligibility for parole for felony murder are unconstitutional.
When asked what she wants the outside world to know about people serving life sentences, she said, "We are human beings who have made mistakes but we are not defined by those mistakes. There are lifers that have taken the necessary steps to redeem ourselves and if given the opportunity, we will rise to the occasion and be role models."
Marsha wants to be released from prison. She wants the chance to use the certification and degree that she worked so hard to get while incarcerated. During her incarceration, she has lost loved ones on the outside. She wants to be free to be able to spend time with friends and family outside of the prison walls. Marsha says she also wants the chance to do things that many people on the outside take for granted. She wants to get a job, pay bills, and do her taxes.
Marsha says that aging in prison is, "no picnic...you do not get the proper medical attention that is needed, and the more you age, you can see and feel your body deteriorate. It's like a loss of life emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually."
June 13, 2016All day yesterday I got text messages from queer friends. “Are you OK?” “OMG it could have been me.” “I had two friends who were there.” “How are you holding up?” “I used to go to Pulse all the time...
December 31, 2013, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement in response to the transfer of the three remaining Uighur detainees from Guant...
June 26, 2017This is CCR's weekly "Frontlines of Justice" news round-up, keeping you in the loop about what we've been up to and what's coming soon. Check it out every Monday, your one-stop-shop for CCR opinions...
In February of 2011, the United States hosted a fact-finding mission by then UN Independent Expert (now the Special Rapporteur) on the human right to safe drinking water. Ms. de Albuquerque carries...
Updated: May 8, 2015
The Cardozo International Law Society, Cardozo Students for Human Rights, and the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy present Targeting Terror: Can the Executive carry out “...
Updated: December 2, 2010
Procedures for Holding Men Under Strict Communications Restrictions Violate Due Process, Appeal Says April 7, 2021, Washington, D.C. – Today, lawyers for men who had been imprisoned in secretive...
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