Dart Society Reports covers prison, solitary confinement

Photo by Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor

The Dart Society announces the publication of the second issue of Dart Society Reports and of “The Gray Box,” a reporting and documentary project by Susan Greene that explores long-term solitary confinement in American prisons.

This second issue of the Dart Society’s online magazine also includes contributions from member journalists and photographers on the coverage of incarceration.

The Dart Society is an independent nonprofit organization of journalists who cover violence and tragedy.

A Denver-based investigative reporter and columnist, Greene draws on years of correspondence with prisoners in solitary confinement and on interviews with those who have been released to uncover psychological abuse with lasting consequences.

“This is deep, original reporting about solitary confinement, an issue for which there hasn’t been a lot of coverage,” said Jina Moore, the project’s editor and manager of the Dart Society’s online presence. “It is among the first pieces that takes a close look at what it’s like inside solitary, based on hundreds of pieces of correspondence and Susan’s sustained engagement over time with men who’ve suffered this punishment.”

Contributions from Dart Society members include a story from photojournalist Joseph Rodriguez’s series “Reentry”; a short report on the use of the death penalty in Iraq by blogger Ali Rawaf; a recounting of being a witness to an execution by broadcast journalist Patricia Murphy; and other pieces by journalists Gina Barton, Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Melissa Manware Treadaway, Huascar Robles, Mary Wiltenburg, and Phil Zabriskie.

Sarah Shourd, an American tourist wrongly accused of spying by the Iranian government and recently released from 14 months of solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, offers reflections on solitary in an interview format.

These pieces also show the impact on journalists of covering criminal-justice issues, Moore said. “Journalists are part of this process that we call justice. We cover crimes, we sit in courtrooms and we witness executions.  We get in the middle of it, and it stays with us, even years later,” she said.

Launched in August 2011, Dart Society Reports seeks to do groundbreaking reporting that raises awareness of trauma, conflict and social injustice. We welcome the credited reprinting of our content and interviews with our member journalists on their work. The Dart Society’s magazine relies on the generosity of individual donors. All contributions are tax-deductible. To make a donation in any amount, please click here
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To read the new issue of Dart Society Reports, click here.