Civil Liberties / Human Rights

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The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. --4th Amendment to the US Constitution

"The Louisiana DOC has an abysmal history of protecting the rights of its prisoners, and the tragic story of the Angola 3 is a case in point," write US Reps. John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, and Cedric Richmond in a letter to the US Justice Department, urging the Attorney General to investigate the use of solitary confinement, and other troubling detention practices, in numerous Louisiana prison facilities, especially LSP-Angola.

Utica, New York.  Today about 20 local citizens participated in a protest to show support for the more than 12,000 prisoners in California who have entered their fifth day of a hunger strike in a push to end long-term solitary confinement, which they call a form of "indefinite state-sanctioned torture." Occupy Utica, Incarcerated Flavors, and the Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc. sponsored the local protest, which was held Friday, July 12 at 5:00 p.m. in front of the State Office Building on Genesee Street, outside the Parole Office.