Members of the Illinois General Assembly;

Solitary confinement or long-term punitive segregation is a psychological wasteland. It is an environment that not only causes inmates to psychologically deteriorate - it causes undue horror and stress for those that work there too.

I spent two decades in solitary confinement in the Illinois Department of Corrections. I lost my social identity in solitary confinement. I felt rejected, lost and alone. In desperate attempts at a sense of humanity, I used to mutilate my neck, arms, legs and private parts. I used to put razors in my eyes that ...

When the term “civil rights” is invoked, many think of images of Martin Luther King, Jr. standing at the forefront of a street march protesting or standing at a podium challenging the leaders of this country for equality and inclusion. However, the reality is that civil rights is far older than MLK and from its genesis, it has evolved into something far more prevalent which dominates the news headlines of today.

How ,any times do you think you have recited the pledge of allegiance? Surely, in the hundreds if not the thousands of times. How many times have you said the words “and liberty ...