A couple days ago, Carol Van Strum sent along an article about New York Mayor Bloomberg’s decision not to evacuate the 12,000 prisoners of Riker’s Island; today is the sixth anniversary of another massive storm and a decision not to evacuate prisoners. The prisoners in city and parish jails of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves on Aug. 29, 2005. Democracy Now! spoke today with James Ridgeway, a reporter for Mother Jones magazine and founder and co-editor of Solitary Watch, a website that tracks solitary confinement and torture in American prisons.
Also at the Democracy Now! site is an interview with Vermont governor Peter Shumlin on the second bout of catastrophic flooding in that state this year — and how northern areas may see the devastating effects of climate change sooner rather than later.