they had the big riot i was in this exact spot. >> on that rainy day joshua voss, a newcomer to pelican bay was in the recreation yard with prisoners. many of them were wearing rain gear, not only as protection from the elements but to hide dozens of homemade weapons. >> i noticed over here some people started stabbing each other. >> this surveillance footage reveals a group of southern mexican gang members unleashing a vicious coordinated attack against a group of black inmates. the beginning of california's worst prison riot. >> i had looked around and all over the yard there was fighting, stabbings going on. >> doug and dozens of his officers tried to subdue inmates with pepper spray and tear gas. every time it seemed the staff had the situation under control, another fight broke out. >> looked like a movie in brave heart but it was the real deal. >> they started firing shots, so everybody that wasn't involved in the riot laid on the ground. >> even the gun fire raining down from security towers did not quell the riot until one of the inmates was killed. 15 others were wounded. >> after

or is it just binding on pelican bay, and california prisons? >> well, as a matter of whether it's actually binding on other courts, it won't be binding beyond this one prison. courts consider what is called persuasive authority. in cases that are legally similar. so this does have the sense to set a national precedent. there come as time, when being locked in a wind with doeless box the size of a parking space violates the 8th amendment. >> to rewering maine, new york, colorado, others? is is there a momentum now for a re-examination of the use of solitary, or are there so few tools that it's going to stick with us even among administrator whose don't want to use it. >> i think both are true, there's no question that the people that i speak to, my colleagues correctional administrators all over the country, understand the da bill tating effects of extreme isolation. and for the most part, many of them especially at the state level less so than perhaps the county jails are taking steps to reduce the reliance on this kind of isolation. t'slation

. >> reporter: the prison at pelican bay is home to the toughest prisoners. it's near the oregon border, miles from the nearest prison. inside prisons are cut off from society and each other. relegated to windowless cells and fed through a slot in the door, with almost no human contact. critical it inhumane. >> there's no reason why they should be held in a cage 23 hours out of the day. >> reporter: pelican bay is a prison with a solitary housing unit, known as the shoe. the state says it's necessary to keep the peace. if the inmates are kept there for years. the civil rights group says more than 500 prisoners at pelican bay spent more than a decade in solitary. more than 200 have been in the shoe for 15 years, and almost 80 have been there for two decades. the prisoners say it violates eighth amendment rights, making it a form of cruel and unusual punishment. both the californian corrections department and the prison guard told al jazeera they are reviewing the case but have no comment. they have defended the use of solitary confinement saying it curbs viole

shu syndrome includes paranoia, hallucination, anxiety. 200 inmates at the pelican bay facility in california have been cleared by a federal judge to bring a class action lawsuit alleging that solitary violates their rights under the constitution. the state of california fought against allowing prisoners to have status as a class , and the federal judge's ruling could end or curtail the use of solitary confinement. >> when they're a threat to others it is within the rights of prison guards to isolate that prisoner. so high security prisons use solitary confinement as a means of protection and a way to secure the prison as a whole or punish violations of prison rules. gang members are most often segregated this way regardless of their behavior or criminal acts. prisoner are confined to their cells 22 hours a day often without a window. prisoners are remoting monitored. california's pelican state prison is a maximum security prison where 500 inmates have been locked in solitary for more than ten years. another 78 has spent two decades confined to a 10 x 8 cell. today a federal judge allowed pri

. >>> first a lawsuit by inmates at the pelican bay prison has turned into a class action lawsuit and may have the potential to change rules on solitary confinement. >> thanks, tony. there are 500 prisoners at the pelican bay prison who have been held in solitary more than ten years. the lawsuit claims this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the eighth amendment to the constitution. what's it like being held 22 hours a day in a windowless 8 x 12 cell for ten years? we'll ask an exonerated death row inmate who knows firsthand. join us at the top of the hour for "inside story." >> in the florida ration for governor rick scott is trying to fend off a serious challenge for democratic and former governor charlie crist and latino voters could play a crucial role. >> reporter: as it does for most people, politics boils down to the personal. mom yolanda came to the united states from puerto rico and said she cares about the economy. her three college-age sons were born in the u.s. and are worried about paying tuition and finding jobs. they vote because they want their voi

. >> when we first met ivory taylor at california's pelican bay state prison he had to be flanked by two officers for his interview in a security housing unit called the zhu. >> okay, you got it. look at our nan right there. he's got this rambo camera. where they from? >> msnbc. >> nbc? >> msnbc. >> they call me double guns because i've got two life sentences. and they call me godzilla because i got more points than anybody else in the prison system. so i fight everybody. i fight anybody that fight with me. and i've been in the hole 19 years straight. >> taylor spent all those years in the shu because of a list of violent infractions rivalling any inmate we've ever profiled on lockup. >> i had my nose broke. hip broke. shoulder broke. and foot broke all in a conversation with the police yard extraction, pod extraction, hospital extraction, shower extraction, any place you can get into a fight i got in a fight. >> when our crew later visited taylor's cell he felt compelled to let the producer know that nobody is entirely safe around him. >> -- the last -- i don't know if you want to r

judge granted class action status to inmates being held in solitary confinement at the infamous pelican bay prison a facility plagued by countless allegations of physical and psychological abuse and last summer protesters there about a hunger strike involving dozens of inmates and in effect to draw attention to the conditions under which they were being held furthermore earlier this month colorado governor john. signed a long. ensuring that mentally ill inmates will no longer be kept in solitary confinement citing constitutional standards that protect individuals from cruel and unusual punishment this makes colorado the second state to take a legislative action on behalf of the mentally ill behind bars but despite these developments tragically solitary confinement is becoming more prevalent mean that more individuals subjected at the trauma of isolation will find it harder or even downright impossible to reassemble in a society once released so if you like me want to see an end to this archaic practice then speak out go to facebook dot com slash break in the set sign the petition against th

judge has given class-action status to a lawsuit challenging solitary confinement by california's pelican baytate prison. the plaintiffs say over a decade in solitary has objected them to cruel and unusual punishment and violated their right to due process. dozens of prisoners took part in a statewide hunger strike against long-term solitary confinement last year. the class-action lawsuit could cover hundreds of prisoners. activists in tech companies are holding a day of action today to promote greater online privacy. the reset the net campaign from the group fight for the future calls for increased web encryption and privacy tools for users. today marks the first anniversary of the publication of the first "guardian" story based on the weeks of edward snowden. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. the backlash continues to grow over the prisoner swap involving u.s. soldier sergeant bowe bergdahl and fi