Free Republic

Calling solitary confinement "torture," California prisoners and advocates are asking the United Nations to investigate the segregated housing of gang members at prisons throughout the state. "We have California treating several thousand prisoners in much the same way the U.S. government treats enemy combatants held in Guantanamo," said Peter Schey, an attorney representing hundreds of inmates. Schey, who announced the petition at a news conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday alongside prisoners' relatives, said solitary confinement was devastating to the physical and mental health of prisoners and was likely to increase their risk of committing more crimes upon release. The...

Controversial real-time event shows how 3 volunteers handle a week in the hole.

When agriculture inspectors come calling at 7 on a Saturday evening, watch out. That's what Barbara and Steve Smith learned last Saturday evening.

Apparently, Martha Stewart just couldn't resist the call of a yoga class. The design guru, who was slated to take off her ankle bracelet for good next week, violated the terms of her sentence by attending a yoga studio near her estate, according to reports. Stewart must now serve an additional three weeks of home confinement as a result of attempting to dupe authorities. "Martha Stewart has agreed to an extension of the terms of her home confinement until Aug. 31.," her lawyer, Walter Dellinger, said in a statement released Wednesday. Although Dellinger did not say explicitly why Stewart's sentence...

N. Korean Defector Tries for U.S. Visit Wed Jun 11, 3:36 AM ET By KENJI HALL, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea - Six years after fleeing one of the world's most repressive regimes in search of freedom, Hwang Jang Yop remains confined to South Korea (news - web sites). Hwang, the most senior North Korean ever to defect and a former mentor to leader Kim Jong Il, has had little contact with the outside world since he fled to the South in 1997. He rarely appears in public or gives interviews. Under the protective custody of South Korea's spy...