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New York Activists Launch Hunger Strike To End Long-Term Solitary Confinement

Activists and survivors of solitary confinement are on a hunger strike to try to convince New York state lawmakers to end long-term solitary confinement.
A security fence surrounds the inmate housing on New York's Rikers Island correctional facility. The state is poised to adopt new standards for solitary confinement in local jails at the urging of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

There is a hunger strike underway in New York.

Activists and survivors are trying to convince state lawmakers to vote on a bill to end long-term solitary confinement. The bill would also ban the practice for those younger than 21 years old and older than 55, and for people with physical and mental disabilities.

The demonstration comes as Paul Manafort, the 70-year-old former Trump campaign chairman, is reportedly headed for isolation at Rikers Island in New York.

According to the International Standards for Prisoner Treatment, also known as the Nelson Mandela rules, keeping

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