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| Talk will explore AZ's much-criticized prison system |
| By azstarnet.com - Betty Feinberg Academy Village Volunteer |
| Published: 08/30/2012 |
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In April of this year Amnesty International issued a scathing indictment of the Arizona prison system, stating that some inmates are being housed under conditions constituting "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in violation of international law." Placing minors 14 to 17 years of age, as well as adults who have yet to be convicted, in conditions of solitary confinement in the Special Management Units came under particular scrutiny. Only a month earlier, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and the Prison Law Office, a prisoner rights group based out of Berkeley, Calif., filed a class action suit against the Arizona Department of Corrections. Due to neglect by prison officials, inmates "are in grave danger of suffering serious and preventable injury, amputation, disfigurement and even death," the lawsuit alleges. Meanwhile the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), a coalition of 314 religious organizations including every major religion in the world, has focused public attention on Arizona and other states for reportedly being out of compliance with national and international laws governing prisoner treatment. In Tucson, the American Friends Service Committee has suspended work on other major projects in order to commit itself to an all-out effort to ban solitary confinement and other practices it considers inhumane in Arizona prisons and jails. Are these criticisms of Arizona's prisons valid? If so, how did we get into this predicament? What has been the response of the Department of Corrections to these charges? Does the privatization of prisons have anything to do with the situation? Read More. |
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