justice

Hamilton Nolan · 09/10/15 12:20PM

Montez Spradley, who was convicted of murder and spent nearly ten years in prison in Alabama—including more than three years on Death Row—has been released from prison, his conviction overturned. Gawker published a letter from Spradley in 2013.

For Inmates in Solitary, "It's Like Time Broke" 

Hamilton Nolan · 08/04/15 12:34PM

It has become increasingly accepted to regard long-term solitary confinement of prisoners as torture. A new report from a psychologist who interviewed prisoners in long-term isolation adds to the bracing literature about how our prison system routinely destroys humans.

Hamilton Nolan · 07/13/15 03:51PM

“The recent handcuffing of an inmate without food for 32 hours is part of a troubling pattern of similar mistreatment in the Los Angeles County jails since [last year]... Inspector General Max Huntsman cited three additional incidents in which inmates were allegedly tethered to objects for prolonged periods.”

Hamilton Nolan · 06/09/15 10:34AM

After 43 years of solitary confinement in Louisiana’s Angola prison, Albert Woodfox has been freed by a federal judge who wrote that “there is no valid conviction holding him in prison, let alone solitary confinement.” Woodfox has been convicted twice of killing a prison guard—and both convictions have been overturned.

Jason Parham · 04/23/15 01:35PM

The family of Michael Brown has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson. Last August, an unarmed Brown was gunned down by Officer Darren Wilson, who is charged with using “an unnecessary and unreasonable amount of force in violation of [Brown’s] constitutionally guaranteed right to life.”