Lawyers for former Black Panther political prisoner Russell “Maroon” Shoatz filed a federal lawsuit on May 8, 2013 against Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) officials, demanding an end to almost 30 years of solitary confinement. In one of the most overtly biased and egregious uses of “restricted housing,” Maroon – who will turn seventy-years-old this August – has spent the past 22 consecutive years in 23-hour-per-day lock down, and 28 of the past 30 years in this heinous condition. He was placed in solitary following his open election as President to a prison-authorized lifer’s advocacy group.
This lawsuit comes on the heels of a 30-day effort led by the Campaign to Free Russell Maroon Shoatz, a newly formed coalition with affiliates in twenty cities across the US. Endorsers such as the Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild, War Resisters League, the American Friends Service Committee (Northeast Region), and others participated in a call-and-write-in campaign to demand an immediate release of Maroon into prison “general population.”
They are still suggesting that people call PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel's office (717-728-4109) to demand that Maroon's years of solitary end now.
“While heartened that prison officials have indicated to Maroon, his legal team, and members of the public that they intend to release him into the general population at some time in the future,” noted Campaign co-chair Matt Meyer, “we believe that 22 consecutive years in solitary is too much torture for anyone to endure. Every minute Maroon is forced to live under these conditions is a minute of fundamental human rights abuse.”
Get more information on Maroon’s case, and find out what you can do to help.
Check out Maroon’s recent compilation of essays, Maroon the Implacable, and his provocative writings against patriarchy, militarism, and environmental destruction.
To get on the Campaign to Free Maroon’s mailing list, write to: freemaroonshoatz [at] gmail.com
