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The Devil's Chair

Number 17300
Subject Human Rights
Source The Progressive
State WI
Year 2000
Publication Date April
Summary The Progressive "investigated the restraint chair, a popular restraining device used in jails and prisons" and "revealed that at least eleven people have died since 1984 after being placed in restraint chairs..." The story "revealed widespread abuse - including torture - of prisoners in the chairs." Some of the major findings included the use of chair "for punishment of nonthreatening behavior" and cases when "prisoners have been interrogated" or "required to testify while in restraint chairs." The reporter also found that "jails, state and federal prisons, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, state mental hospitals, juvenile detention centers are all equipped with the chair."
Category Contest Entry
Pages 13
Keywords diskette;FOIA;Amnesty International;prisons;torture
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