Prison Reform News

Disabled Prisoner’s Suit Brings ‘States Rights’ Clash
by Brendan Coyne
"Nov 10 - Arguments opened today in a consolidated disability rights case that affords the Supreme Court the opportunity to clear up confusion about who wins when rights claimed by the state conflict with those of the individual. The hearing over the Georgia state prison system’s alleged violations of a federal law protecting disabled people brought administration lawyers together with civil rights groups often highly critical of the White House."

Rights and Liberties: All Alone in the World
By Nell Bernstein, AlterNet
With their parents arressted, these children were left to fend for themselves.

Rights and Liberties: Creating the Next Generation of Criminals
By Kelly Hearn, AlterNet
"Over 2.4 million children are paying for their parents' crimes. In this exclusive interview, Nell Bernstein talks about the illogic of incarceration and how the criminal justice system could be taught to think."

Ramps in the Big House
By Dahlia Lithwick on supreme court dispatches
"It's far too early to call your bookies on this one. But if today's oral argument was a canary in the coal mine of the big "states rights" revolution under Chief Justice John Roberts, I'd guess that the so-called "dignity" of states might finally be less compelling to the justices than the "dignity" of a real-live human being forced to sit for hours in his own excrement."