At Fort Meade, the defense presented arguments in favor of a request to have witnesses appear in August when the court deliberates over the unlawful pretrial punishment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks.

A historic congressional hearing on solitary confinement in United States’ prisons happened on Tuesday. It was held by the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Chaired by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the hearing was the first-ever hearing on the use of isolation in prisons and the human rights, fiscal, and public safety consequences created.

I appeared on RT America to discuss the hearing and solitary confinement.

An historic congressional hearing on solitary confinement in United States prisons was held today by the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Chaired by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, it was the first-ever hearing on the use of isolation in prisons and the human rights, fiscal and public safety consequences created.

I think there’s a good chance that with enough support we could get some local media to start picking up this story. It would be enough to get some people talking about this case again, and as we near September’s court-martial, that’s exactly what we all need to be doing because the only thing that will complicate the governments plans is intense public scrutiny.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that five individuals facing terrorism charges, including the radical cleric Abu Hamza, can be extradited to the United States. The ruling by the court in Strasbourg, France, was part of a determination that the human rights of these individuals would not be violated if they were sent to the US for trial and ultimately imprisoned in a “supermax” prison. We review some of the issues and history leading to this decision.

Following on the announcement of the removal of all juvenile prisoners in Mississippi from private prisons, the Department of Justice has just released a report of its findings in investigating the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, which is run by the GEO Group. Walnut Grove was the target of the lawsuit that resulted in the prohibition on sending juveniles to private prisons, and it turns out the state was more than justified in ordering such a removal.

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that was later found to be corrupt, has been moved out of solitary confinement. He has been put back in the minimum security camp where he was being held before a member of Congress had him moved.

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that was later found to be corrupt, has reportedly been moved to solitary confinement after a member of Congress contacted the Bureau of Prisons.

Seven hundred and seventy-five people have been imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. One hundred and seventy-one people remain in the American military detention and interrogation facility. On the tenth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo, here are some stories from detainees who have been freed from Guantanamo.

More than three weeks later and after building up great support from activists, academics, celebrities and others in the US and around the world, the leaders of the prison hunger strike in the Pelican Bay supermax prison have brought an end to their strike and have begun to eat again. They emphasize that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has given them a few good-faith token gestures and that the end of this strike is entirely conditioned on achieving the long-term policy changes that they have demanded.