Which Way, L.A.?
CA Solitary Confinement Case Could Change Practice Nationwide
Hundreds of inmates at Pelican Bay are held there in solitary confinement — often for more than a decade. A federal class-action lawsuit might deem that unconstitutional.
By Warren Olney • • 27m ListenPelican Bay in Northern California is the prison convicts fear most. Hundreds of inmates are held there in windowless cells, reportedly without normal human contact — often for more than a decade. This week, a federal judge agreed to consider a class-action lawsuit that might deem that practice unconstitutional. We hear both sides of a case that could have consequences nationwide. Also, officials close to Governor Jerry Brown are accused of scuttling a deal to clean up radioactive waste from a nuclear accident near Los Angeles. The accident happened in 1959.
Later, on To the Point, India has been embarrassed by revelations of the brutal gang-rape and murder of two young girls. Pakistan is under fire after the "honor killing" of a pregnant woman. Is sexual violence on the increase in that region or just getting more attention? Will an international spotlight bring much-needed change?
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