“Obama says we don’t torture, but a lot of this is straight-up
torture,” says journalism legend
James Ridgeway. “We call Guantanamo and Afghanistan torture and we
never look at our own stuff.”

Ridgeway is talking about the growing use – and abuse – of
solitary confinement in American prisons. He estimates there are
80,000 prisoners currently in solitary, many whom are mentally ill
and suicidal. One prisoner Ridgeway is following has been in
solitary for 40 years and he notes that some lawmakers are
proposing life sentences in solitary as a “humane” alternative to
the death penalty. Ridgeway and associates report their findings at
SolitaryWatch.com.

Ridgeway is currently a Washington, D.C. correspondent for
Mother Jones. He was a longtime correspondent for the
Village Voice, and he’s best known for uncovering that
General Motors hired private
detectives to try to defame consumer advocate Ralph Nader back
in 1966.

ReasonTV’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Ridgeway to talk about
the growing use of solitary and what we can do about it.

About 5 minutes.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Tracy Oppenheimer, and edited by
Epstein.

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