Criminal Legal System
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Minnesota foster youth are tortured with solitary confinement: Report to UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement
In June 2023, RFK Human Rights and partner Atlas of Blackness submitted written testimony and proposed recommendations to the United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER). This submission followed EMLER’s visit to Minnesota, MN.
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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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US abuses human rights with solitary confinement: request for thematic hearing at the IACHR
In April 2023, RFK Human Rights and nine partners requested a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning the United States’ tortuous use of solitary confinement. The request exposes how the United States’ persistent use of solitary confinement violates international human rights law, threatening the rights to life, health and safety, liberty,…
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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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New York tortures people with solitary confinement: letter to the NY Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
In February 2023, RFK Human Rights wrote a letter to the DOCCS, highlighting the ways in which current regulations violate HALT, and provided recommendations to cure these violations.
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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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