Published: December 20, 2009

When Mississippi inmates sued their prison, charging that they had been sodomized by a staff member, the claim was thrown out. Under a harsh federal law, inmates must show that they suffered a “physical injury” to prevail in a suit challenging cruel prison conditions. A federal district court ruled in 2006 that the alleged sexual assault did not constitute physical injury.

By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star Tribune

October 23 - Raquel Rolnik, United Nations special rapporteur, meets New Yorkers at a town hall meeting on Thursday.

October 21 - UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N.'s top investigator on torture and punishment called Tuesday for a new U.N. convention to protect the rights of detainees, saying many are held for years and sometimes for a lifetime in inhuman and degrading conditions.

Postville, IA October 14, 2009 - Postville, Ia. - The new leader of the former Agriprocessors meatpacking plant is promising a different way of doing business than his controversial predecessors practiced.

Nebraska, October 13 - Credit Nebraska Appleseed for perseverance in its effort to improve working conditions in the state's meatpacking plants.

Appleseed, a nonprofit public law center in Lincoln, has been pushing for improvements in the meatpacking industry for more than a decade.

Immigrants fired by two suburban Chicago businesses are testing an Illinois law that sets the nation’s toughest limits on verifying eligibility for employment.

Executive Summary