Philadelphia

Inmate Back With General Population After 37 Years in Solitary Confinement

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials say an inmate who spent 37 years in solitary confinement is now serving out the rest of his life sentence with other prisoners.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports 64-year-old Arthur Johnson was moved into the general population at SCI Greene in Waynesburg on Dec. 30, 2016.

Johnson sued the state last year, arguing that his detainment was in violation of the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

A federal judge ruled that Johnson's "institutional exile'' should end in September 2016. Johnson was first placed in solitary confinement in 1979 following several failed escape attempts.

Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1970 murder of a man during a street fight in Philadelphia.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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