Criminal Legal System
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Call to action to stop inhumane practice of solitary confinement in NC prisons
Tags Share Every day, tens of thousands of incarcerated Americans are subjected to an internationally recognized form of torture, and the horrors of it are largely hidden from public view. They spend 22 hours or more a day alone in locked cells the size of parking lot spaces, often in filthy conditions with little to…
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Rekia Boyd v. United States: Fighting impunity for police killings
This case seeks accountability through international human rights law for the extrajudicial killing of Rekia Boyd by a Chicago police officer.
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Black Minnesotans Tell UN Panel of Harms Committed by Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Authorities
Tags Share Speaking with The Imprint, our staff attorney Delia Addo-Yobo highlights the physical and mental health repercussions of solitary confinement. Joined by partner organizations and directly impacted individuals, Delia recently traveled to Minnesota to present before UN delegates on the devastating ramifications of solitary. Read the full article for more information about RFK Human…
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Human rights attorneys urge UN to review the solitary confinement of Black Americans
Tags Share “The United States also has a very long and unfortunately active history of weaponizing solitary confinement against Black people, Black political prisoners and people exercising their constitutional rights.” Speaking with The Hill, our staff attorney Delia Addo-Yobo urges the United Nations to review abusive solitary confinement practices against Black people in the United…
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Human Rights Organizations Urge United Nations to Review Abusive Solitary Confinement Practices in California, New York, Louisiana, and Minnesota
Tags Share Washington, D.C., February 28, 2023 – Last week, a group of human rights organizations including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the California Mandela Campaign, Atlas of Blackness, Unlock the Box Campaign, and the NY #HALTsolitary campaign, filed a joint submission urging the United Nations to review abusive solitary confinement practices against Black people…
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US tortures Black people with solitary confinement: report to UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement
The United States wields solitary confinement against Afro-descendent people in municipal jails, state and federal prisons, immigration detention centers, and care settings for foster youth, causing devastating mental, physical, and emotional harm.
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Once again we are asking for change. When will there be progress on police brutality?
Tags Share Our message is clear: It’s time to limit police contact with the public and decrease the opportunities law enforcement has to introduce violence to non-violent situations. This means limiting police power to stop people on mere pretext, repealing laws that criminalize people who speak out against police abuses, and investing directly into communities…
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Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights expands U.S. advocacy and litigation efforts with appointment of Sarah Gillman
Tags Share New York, NY, October 18, 2022 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights today announced that Sarah Gillman, co-founder of the noted Rapid Defense Network (RDN), has joined the organization as its new Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation. A seasoned attorney specializing in immigrants’ rights, Gillman will work to expand RFK Human Rights’ domestic…
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RFKHR Book Club spotlights Elizabeth Hinton’s ‘America on Fire’
Tags Share Yale professor of Law Elizabeth Hinton has advocated for structural transformation as a more effective solution to violent crimes and improving America’s race-relations. “More police and more prisons doesn’t work to keep people safer,” Hinton said on Friday Sept. 29 while discussing her book, America on Fire at a live virtual event organized…
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Gov. Newsom, understand the horrors of solitary as you consider the Mandela Act
Tags Share As Gov. Gavin Newsom considers signing the Mandela Act to limit solitary confinement in California, he needs to understand its true horrors. Today I write this as a rising immigration attorney and legal fellow with national advocacy organization Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. But just four short years ago, I was an asylum…
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Book Club: America on Fire with Elizabeth Hinton
Share Join us online Thursday, September 29 from 4-5 pm ET / 1-2 pm PT for the RFKHR Board and Leadership Council Book Club featuring 2022 RFK Book Awards Laureate Elizabeth Hinton, her latest work – America on Fire and RFKHR Board Member Elisa Massimino. America on Fire presents a new framework for understanding our…
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Address at Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags Share Crime is an issue that is difficult and dangerous; easily susceptible to illusory and false programs; an issue which threatens to divert us from the road to a better nation into blind alleys of suspicion and mistrust. So let us examine not just the danger of crime but what we can do together…
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