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Paul Wright Presenting at the 2020 Future of Florida Summit on Criminal Justice Reform
Paul Wright Presenting at the 2020 Future of Florida Summit on Criminal Justice Reform
Paul Wright presenting on Prisoner Rights at the Deerfield Progressive Forum Dec 21, 2019
Paul Wright presenting on Prisoner Rights at the Deerfield Progressive Forum Dec 21, 2019
Paul Wright, Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center, with Jeff Ross, world famous comedian, RoastMaster General, and longtime PLN supporter. Dec 13, 2019
Paul Wright, Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center, with Jeff Ross, world famous comedian, RoastMaster General, and longtime PLN supporter. Dec 13, 2019
HRDC’s dedicated legal team in Fayetteville, Arkansas fighting in court to allow prisoners at the jail in Baxter County to access reading materials outside of the jail's postcard-only policy
HRDC’s dedicated legal team in Fayetteville, Arkansas fighting in court to allow prisoners at the jail in Baxter County to access reading materials outside of the jail's postcard-only policy
In February 2019, HRDC’s Executive Director Paul Wright received the prestigious Frederick Douglass 200 award for his prisoners rights and anti-censorship advocacy work.
In February 2019, HRDC’s Executive Director Paul Wright received the prestigious Frederick Douglass 200 award for his prisoners rights and anti-censorship advocacy work.
Protesters gathered outside during CoreCivic's annual shareholders' meeting, May 10, 2018, Nashville, Tennessee
Protesters gathered outside during CoreCivic's annual shareholders' meeting, May 10, 2018, Nashville, Tennessee
Protesters gathered outside CoreCivic's annual shareholders' meeting May 10, 2018, Nashville, Tennessee
Protesters gathered outside CoreCivic's annual shareholders' meeting May 10, 2018, Nashville, Tennessee
Will van Atta (L), retired Army colonel Ann Wright (R), and friend at Morro Bay, CA
Will van Atta (L), retired Army colonel Ann Wright (R), and friend at Morro Bay, CA
Paul Wright speaking at Solidarity With Undocumented Detainees (Broward Transitional Center, FL), July 22, 2017
Paul Wright speaking at Solidarity With Undocumented Detainees (Broward Transitional Center, FL), July 22, 2017
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Richard Dent, Kristi Kucera Dunn, and Paul Wright)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Richard Dent, Kristi Kucera Dunn, and Paul Wright)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Paul Wright, Kristi Kucera Dunn, Juan Rivera, DeEtta Jones, and Richard Dent)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Paul Wright, Kristi Kucera Dunn, Juan Rivera, DeEtta Jones, and Richard Dent)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Paul Wright, Angel Gonzalez, and Juan Rivera)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Paul Wright, Angel Gonzalez, and Juan Rivera)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Angel Gonzalez, Paul Wright, and Juan Rivera)
Vox Captae event - November 18, 2016 (L-R: Angel Gonzalez, Paul Wright, and Juan Rivera)
Paul Wright and John Kiarakou, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
Paul Wright and John Kiarakou, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
Paul Wright, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
Paul Wright, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
John Kiriakou, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
John Kiriakou, HRDC Boston Fundraiser, 2016
HRDC prison phone justice director Carrie Wilkinson at a 2015 Congressional Briefing (Photo: Mag-NET)
HRDC prison phone justice director Carrie Wilkinson at a 2015 Congressional Briefing (Photo: Mag-NET)
Carrie Wilkinson, Congressional Briefing, 2015 (Photo: Mag-NET)
Carrie Wilkinson, Congressional Briefing, 2015 (Photo: Mag-NET)
Carrie Wilkinson, Congressional Briefing, 2015 (Photo: Mag-NET)
Carrie Wilkinson, Congressional Briefing, 2015 (Photo: Mag-NET)
Paul Wright, 9th Circuit Corrections Summit, 2015
Paul Wright, 9th Circuit Corrections Summit, 2015
FCC Meeting to Cap Prison Phone Rates, 2015
FCC Meeting to Cap Prison Phone Rates, 2015
HRDC Prison Phone Justice Coordinator Carrie Wilkinson with activists in D.C.
HRDC Prison Phone Justice Coordinator Carrie Wilkinson with activists in D.C.
Paul Wright accepting 1st Amendment Award
Paul Wright accepting 1st Amendment Award
Paul Wright at FCC workshop 7-9-14
Paul Wright at FCC workshop 7-9-14
Prison Legal News
No greeting cards allowed!
No greeting cards allowed!
PLN legal team going to court in Florida, Jan. 2015
PLN legal team going to court in Florida, Jan. 2015
PLN at PIELC conference in Oregon 2015
PLN at PIELC conference in Oregon 2015
Paul Wright and NV CURE president John Witherow 2015
Paul Wright and NV CURE president John Witherow 2015

Videos

 

Video title: Cimarron Riot

Video credit: The Frontier

Description: Deadly gang fight at private Cushing Prison (this video contains extremely graphic content some viewers might find disturbing)

Published on: October 6, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: Director ejecutivo del Centro de Defensa de DD. HH. se refirió a la entrega del Nobel de Paz 2017

Video credit: NTN24

Description: Paul Wright, director ejecutivo del Centro de Defensa de Derechos Humanos, se refirió en NTN24 a la entrega del Nobel de Paz a la Campaña Internacional para Abolir las Armas Nucleares y dijo que “puede ser que el Comité Nobel está tratando de hacer algo sobre las sanciones entre EE. UU. y Corea del Norte acerca del programa nuclear” de Pyongyang.

Published on: October 6, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: 4 guards outside cell as Georgia inmate hanged himself

Video credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Danny Robbins

Description: Read the full story on myajc.com: https://www.myajc.com/news/crime--law/videos-guards-outside-cell-georgia-inmate-hanged-himself/22tRwr7RUfeJIlUdHQkrhK/ (This video was reposted with permission from the author and publisher)

Published on: September 6, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: Paul Wright at Women's March - June 25, 2017 | West Palm Beach, Florida

Video credit: Human Rights Defense Center, Women's March Florida - West Palm Beach Chapter (Facebook group)

Description: HRDC Executive Director Paul Wright speaks to crowd about police shootings and the need for accountability. Original Facebook caption: "Thank you, Paul Wright, for your wise words and commitment to the cause."

Published on: June 26, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: 真人道还是假慈善?奔赴火场的加州囚犯 (True or false charity? California prisoners of the fire)

Video credit: Globus: The World

Description: HRDC Executive Director Paul Wright speaks about conditions for prisoner firefighters incarcerated through CDCR.

Published on: October 14, 2016

 

 

 

Video title: Facing Lethal Drugs shortage, Prison Officials Say 'Let's Kill Everyone Now' - Human Rights Advocate

Video credit: RT Question More

Description: Arkansas’ Governor Asa Hutchinson has ordered that eight executions be carried out before one of its lethal injection drugs expires at the end of April. A federal judge has granted a stay on the execution of only one of the condemned. Paul Wright, executive director at Human Rights Defense Center and editor at Prison Legal News joins RT America’s Anya Parampil to discuss the impending “mass execution” and the controversies surrounding capital punishment in the US.

Published on: April 11, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: We're Being Robbed But The People Doing It Will Never Go To Prison

Video credit: Brave New Foundation

Description: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is the country's biggest for-profit prison company and calls human beings in lock-up a "revenue stream." Don't let them profit off imprisoning even more. http://aclu.org/CCA#prisonprofiteers. This video is part of the Prison Profiteers series produced by Brave New Foundation's Beyond Bars campaign in partnership with the ACLU and The Nation. Narration by Henry Rollins. Research help provided by Prison Legal News.

Published on: November 5, 2013

 

 

 

Video title: Black Americans make up 47% of criminal exonerations

Video credit: RT America

Description: A new report on the wrongful convictions of innocent black Americans find that they are far more likely to serve time in prison for crimes they did not commit compared to their white counterparts. Researchers looked at the 1,900 exonerations reported in the National Registry of Exonerations between 1989 and October 20165. RT America's Manila Chan is joined by Editor of Prison Legal News Paul Wright to discuss further.

Published on: March 10, 2017

 

 

 

Video title: #Solutions2020 Policy Forum - Opening Remarks & First 3 Panels

Video credit: FCC

Description: This forum was the culmination of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's #ConnectingCommunities tour which has explored the opportunities and challenges of bringing affordable, diverse and competitive communications services to all Americans. #Solutions2020 focused on proposing answers to some of the toughest challenges facing the communications sector. Held on October 19, 2016 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. 

Published on: November 9, 2016

 

 

 

Video title: #Solutions2020 Policy Forum - Keynote & Last 2 Panels

Video credit: FCC

Description: This forum was the culmination of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's #ConnectingCommunities tour which has explored the opportunities and challenges of bringing affordable, diverse and competitive communications services to all Americans. #Solutions2020 focused on proposing answers to some of the toughest challenges facing the communications sector. Held on October 19, 2016 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. 

Published on: November 9, 2016

 

 

 

Video title: Danger Inside Private Prison Systems

Video credit: HRDC

Description: WHDT News Interview with Alex Friedmann, Aug 2016

Published on: September 19, 2016

 

 

 

Video title: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Human Rights Defense Center

Video credit: HRDC

Description: Keynote speaker John Kiriakou

Published on: December 16, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Paul Wright, Executive Director and Founder Human Rights Defense Center

Video credit: HRDC

Description: Paul Wright speaks at the 25th Anniversary of Prison Legal News and The Human Rights Defense Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, December 1, 2015

Published on: December 11, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: PLN's 25th Anniversary celebration in Seattle, WA on Nov. 9, 2015

Video credit: HRDC

Description: Part 1

Published on: November 23, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: PLN's 25th Anniversary celebration in Seattle, WA on Nov. 9, 2015

Video credit: HRDC

Description: Part 2

Published on: November 24, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: A Perfect Storm : Investigating Tennessee's Prison System - WSMV Channel 4 I-Team Special

Video credit: WSMV Channel 4 I-Team

Description: A documentary by the Channel 4 I-Team covering two years of investigations into the Tennessee Department Of Corrections. Our investigations prompted five legislative hearings, an independent audit of the department, a criminal conviction, and calls for the commissioner of the department to resign.

Published on: December 29, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Túnez demuestra que no se deja destruir pese a problemas políticos: Centro de Defensa DD.HH. (Tunisia shows that it will not be destroyed despite political problems: Human Rights Defense Center)

Video credit: NTN24

Description: Interview with Paul Wright of HRDC on Tunisian politics

Published on: October 9, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Colorado prison labor camp raising tilapia sold at Whole Foods

Video credit: Feature Story News

Description: Features interview with Alex Friedmann, Managing Editor of PLN

Published on: September 3, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Workshop on Further Reform of Inmate Calling Services - July 9, 2014

Video credit: FCC

Description: To analyze the impact of the reforms and gather information to inform additional reforms of inmate calling services (ICS), the Commission held a workshop on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. Topics for the workshop included state reforms of ICS, the cost characteristics of the provision of ICS in different correctional facilities, the regulation of ancillary charges, and non-traditional communications technologies used in correctional settings. 

Published on: July 10, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: BrianLehrer.tv: The importance of libraries

Video credit: CUNY TV

Description: First, recent data says rape in prison is increasing. There is a law against it but seven governors won't implement it. To discuss, Cynthia Soohoo, director of the International Women's Human Rights Clinic, Chris Daley, executive director of Just Detention International and Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News.

Published on: June 11, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: "Están experimentando con drogas para matar a la gente": dir. de Centro de Defensa de DD.HH. ("They are experimenting with drugs to kill people": dir. of Human Rights Defense Center)

Video credit: NTN24

Description: En entrevista con El Informativo de NTN24, Paul Wright, director del Centro de Defensa de los DD.HH., habló sobre la polémica que se ha generado en EE.UU. tras la agonía que vivió un preso al aplicarle la inyección letal. (In an interview with NTN24, Paul Wright, director of the Center for Defense of Human Rights, spoke about the controversy that has been generated in the United States after the agony that a prisoner endured during a lethal injection.)

Published on: June 24, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: RT international report on Oklahoma death penalty case

Video credit: RT Question More

Description: Diann Rust-Tierney - National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Published on: May 6, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: Billions Behind Bars - Inside America's Prison Industry Part 1-3

Video credit: CNBC

Description: CNBC's Scott Cohn travels the country to go inside the big and controversial business of prisons. "Billions Behind Bars: Inside America's Prison Industry," a CNBC original documentary, goes behind the razor wires to investigate the profits and inner-workings of the multi-billion dollar corrections industry. 

Published on: October 18, 2011

 

 

 

Video title: TAP Long Haul Awards - 2014

Video credit: Tennessee Forward

Description: TAP is a statewide organization with a mission to build a prosperous, sustainable economy that benefits all Tennesseans. TAP believes that we need to articulate a hopeful vision for the future based on our motto "We are all in this together." Award presented to Alex Friedmann, Managing Editor of Prison Legal News.

Published on: May 18, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: Profiting from U.S. Immigration Policies

Video credit: Hillhouse Video Works

Description: Rev. Janet Wolf and Alex Friedmann describe the current US immigration policies that create profit for private prison companies.

Published on: Unknown date, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: Prison Legal News free speech video

Video credit: PBS - Freedom Speaks

Description: Freedom speaks video broadcast on PBS in the 1990s. Depicts Paul Wright, founder of Prison Legal News, while in prison and media expert Peter Sussman discussing free speech rights of prisoners.

Published on: Unknown date, 1994

 

 

 

Video title: Interview - Paul Wright - Prison Profiteers

Video credit: Talking Stick TV

Description: Interview with Paul Wright, founder and editor of "Prison Legal News" and co-editor of the book "Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money From Mass Incarceration"

Published on: February 17, 2008

 

 

 

Video title: Editor Paul Wright speaks about Prison Legal News

Video credit: Mapsite

Description: Prison Legal News -- Human Rights Defense Center - www.prisonnews.org

Published on: November 10, 2010

 

 

 

Video title: "I've seen it from the outside and the inside and I know how private prisons operate..."

Video credit: Grassroots Leadership - PSJ Campaign

Description: Alex Friedmann of Prison Legal News spent six years incarcerated in a CCA-run facility. He believes CCA's 30th anniversary should be viewed as an opportunity to speak out against the private prison industry. 

Private prison company Corrections Corporation of America is spending 2013 commemorating its 30th anniversary with celebrations around the country. However, the 30th Anniversary of CCA and the modern for-profit private prison industry is nothing to celebrate. Please join the Public Safety and Justice Campaign, civil rights leaders, people of faith, criminal justice reform groups, and immigrant rights organizations as we collectively say it's time to end, not celebrate, the for-profit private prison and immigrant detention system in the United States. We are encouraging organizational and denominational leaders and their members to make short videos on why it's time to end for-profit incarceration.

Published on: April 24, 2013

 

 

 

Video title: Unlocking Communities: Ending Mass Incarceration in America

Video credit: The Aspen Institute

Description: The Aspen Forum for Community Solutions, Center for Community Change, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, and the Vera Institute of Justice invite you to a leadership and conversation on the mass incarceration crisis. 

We are at a pivotal moment. Supporters of mass incarceration have argued that locking people away is needed to fight crime, but the imprisonment rate has climbed regardless of fluctuations in crime rates, giving the United States the highest incarceration rates in the world. The current revolving door system has done little rehabilitate men and women; tearing families and leaving communities no safer.

This event will bring together policy, system and community leaders for a critical conversation on the history and impact of mass incarceration and the strategies to end it. Designed for an audience of legislative, policy and advocacy leaders, we expect the event to serve as a powerful catalyst to action on this urgent issue. 

Panelists include:

Bill Keller, editor-in-chief, Marshall Project
Marc Levin, policy director, Right on Crime
Danielle Sered, director, Common Justice Program, Vera Institute for Justice
Nick Turner, president and director, Vera Institute for Justice
John Wetzel, secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Published on: May 21, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Paul Wright Interview: Democracy Now! May 10, 2004

Video credit: Democracy Now!

Description: Interview with Paul Wright begins at 48:15

Published on: May 10, 2004

 

 

 

Video title: The Tennessee Tribune Forum: Mass Incarceration In Tennessee

Video credit: The Tennessee Tribune

Description: Panel features Alex Friedmann, Managing Editor of PLN

Published on: November 20, 2015

 

 

 

Video title: Outcasts: Surviving the Culture of Rejection

Video credit: Hillhouse Video Works

Description: Feature-length film about incarceration and recidivism.

Published on: Unknown date, 2014

 

 

 

Video title: Censorship Litigation Update

Video credit: HRDC in-house

Description: Live Facebook video

Published on: May 23, 2018


Audio / Radio Shows

ICBY Radio Interview with Paul Wright - Prison Legal News, 7 Sep 2016 This program is courtesy of KABF, 88.3 FM, Community Radio, Little Rock, Arkansas. www.kabf.org.
Artist First - Crime Beat, Paul Wright, Guest, March 10, 2016
TJSL - Free Speech, Press & Censorship in CA Prisons, Paul Wright, Guest, February 9, 2016
WPFW, Crossroads - Unregulated Debit Cards for Releasees, Paul Wright, Guest, October 20, 2015
Generation Justice - Prison Phone Justice with HRDC's Carrie Wilkinson, October 18, 2015
NPR, On Point - Unlocking U.S. Sentencing Reform, Paul Wright, Guest, October 12, 2015
Black Agenda Radio, Alex Friedmann on Prison Phone Calls and the FCC, October 5, 2015
Sojourner Truth Radio, Panagioti Tsolkas for Earth Watch, September 17, 2015
CrimethInc. #38: Anarchism in Lake Worth, Florida, July 1, 2015
JPI Podcast with PLN managing editor, September, 2014
Roach Brown Radio Show, July 1, 2014

"Criminal Injustice" Radio Segment

Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, appears regularly with fellow journalist Kevin Gosztola on the "Loud & Clear" podcast's weekly series “Criminal Injustice,” a segment about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country.

Weekly series “Criminal Injustice,” where we talk about the most egregious conduct of courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country.
“Criminal Injustice” continues
“Criminal Injustice” continues
“Criminal Injustice” continues
“Criminal Injustice” continues. Today’s segment focuses on private prisons and prison profit.
“Criminal Injustice” continues. Today’s segment focuses on private prisons and prison profit.
The weekly series “Criminal Injustice” continues. Today’s segment focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline and police killings.
The first half of our weekly series Criminal Injustice focuses on the police shooting in Portland of a mentally ill man who was stabbing himself with a knife in a homeless shelter.
The second half of today’s Criminal Injustice addresses new information about prison phone call exploitation
“Criminal Injustice” continues. Today's segment discusses the murder by NYPD of Saheed Vassell, a man known by cops and the community to be mentally ill.
“Criminal Injustice” continues, where the hosts discuss the systematic abuse of prisoners across the system.
On the regular Thursday series “Criminal Injustice,” the hosts discuss how to organize a prison strike.
“Criminal Injustice” continues. The hosts discuss how to organize a prison strike.
On the regular Thursday series “Criminal Injustice,” the hosts discuss how to organize a prison strike.
“Criminal Injustice" continues. The hosts discuss a New Hampshire bill eradicating the death penalty that the governor vetoes, citing police and victims.
“Criminal Injustice” continues. The hosts discuss a prison journalist, Kevin “Rahid” Johnson, who has been punished for talking to the press and Trump’s pardon of Alice Marie Johnson.
Loud & Clear 01/18/18
Loud & Clear 02/21/18
Loud & Clear 03/01/18
Loud & Clear 03/22/18
Loud & Clear 03/29/18
Loud & Clear 04/05/18
Loud & Clear 04/16/18
Loud & Clear 04/26/18
Loud & Clear 05/03/18
Loud & Clear 05/10/18
Loud & Clear 06/07/18
Loud & Clear 06/14/18
Loud & Clear 06/21/18
Loud & Clear 06/28/18
Loud & Clear 07/05/18
Loud & Clear 07/12/18
Loud & Clear 07/19/18
Loud & Clear 07/26/18
Loud & Clear 08/02/18
Loud & Clear 08/09/18
Loud & Clear 08/23/18
Loud & Clear 08/30/18
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