solitary confinement

Katja Ridderbusch / KHN

1:41pm Oct 04, 2021

Health & Safety Health & Safety

COVID precautions put more prisoners in isolation. It can mean long-term health woes

by Katja Ridderbusch

An estimated 300,000 people were held in solitary confinement in the U.S. at the height of the pandemic. Advocates are pushing to limit the practice, citing lasting harm to prisoners' health.
11:57am Jun 12, 2020

Race Race Courts Crime

35 Years After Wrongful Conviction, Darryl Hunt’s Legacy Of Hope Remains

by David Ford

With thousands of young demonstrators marching in Winston-Salem to protest the police killing of George Floyd, an older generation in Winston-Salem is looking back.

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Chris Carlson / AP

6:09pm Jan 15, 2020

National National Politics & Government

Despite Findings Of 'Negligent' Care, ICE To Expand Troubled Calif. Detention Center

by Tom Dreisbach

A previously confidential report obtained by NPR found major failings at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, one of the nation's largest immigration detention centers.

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Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images

1:02pm Mar 05, 2019

Books Books Arts

In 'Solitary,' Determination And Humanity Win Over Injustice

by Gabino Iglesias

Albert Woodfox's timely account of his wrongful conviction and time in solitary confinement shows that some spirits are unbreakable; it should be required reading in an age of Black Lives Matter.
Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images

10:29am Jan 25, 2019

National National

New York City Reaches $3.3 Million Settlement With Kalief Browder's Family

by Vanessa Romo

Browder endured nearly three years on Rikers, much of it in solitary confinement, awaiting a trial that never happened. His death by suicide in 2015 led to nationwide criminal justice reform.
Brennan Linsley / AP

5:09pm Feb 06, 2018

National National

Sept. 11 Conspirator Files Lawsuit Saying His Isolation Is 'Psychological Torture'

by Laurel Wamsley

Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted in 2006, filed handwritten petitions in federal courts. Conditions at the Supermax prison in Colorado where he is an inmate have been criticized in the past.
Seth Wenig / AP

4:49pm Dec 13, 2017

National National

Rikers Settles Class Action Solitary Confinement Case

by Rebecca Feldhaus Adams

More than 450 plaintiffs are approved to receive compensation for time they spent in solitary confinement at Rikers Island under the "old time" policy.
10:52am Jul 20, 2017

Crime Crime

North Carolina To Limit Use Of Solitary Confinement

by Neal Charnoff

Prisoners in North Carolina will be spending less time in solitary confinement.
7:58pm Jul 13, 2017

National National

Federal Report Criticizes Harsh Treatment Of Lewisburg Prisoners

by Joseph Shapiro

A Justice Department review says the federal prison violates its own rules that men with serious mental illnesses should be removed from its Special Management Unit.
Bebeto Matthews / AP

7:00am Apr 04, 2017

National National Economy

New York's Solitary Confinement Overhaul Gets Pushback From Union

by Brian Mann

Several states across the U.S. are curbing their use of solitary confinements in prison. But in New York, corrections officers say it's a necessary tool to keep the guards and prisons safe.

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Lis Aserud / AFP/Getty Images

1:07pm Apr 21, 2016

World News World News

Norwegian Mass Killer Wins Human Rights Case Over Prison Conditions

by Merrit Kennedy

Anders Breivik — the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in 2011 — has been treated inhumanely in prison, a Norwegian court says.
Peter Hoffman for NPR

11:36am Mar 24, 2016

National National

Doubling Up Prisoners In 'Solitary' Creates Deadly Consequences

Imagine living in a cell smaller than a parking space or a king-size mattress. Now add a roommate. The result for some inmates forced to live together in solitary can be murder.