Political prisoners in the United States are people whose detention in the United States is based substantially on political motives. Prominent US political prisoners have included anti-war socialists, civil rights movement activists, conscientious objectors, and War on Terrorism detainees. "Political prisoner" is an inherently vague term which is most commonly applied to people persecuted for their political beliefs or for their "threat" to the government. Imprisonment for mere expression of political beliefs is rare in the United States, because free speech and free expression are well-established in law. However, several human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have pointed to repeated examples of US federal and state governments targeting people affiliated with dissident movements for "neutralization" by applying much harsher sentences for real or "framed" crimes, such as during COINTELPRO. History and scope There are no systematic estimates of the present or past scope of political prisoners in the United States. The number of political prisoners cannot be precisely determined. However, Taubner 1992 writes that "most of the individuals and organizations investigating the existence of political prisoners in the United States agree that there are a minimum of over 100 political prisoners in America". During a July 1978 interview with French newspaper Le Matin de Paris, Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young caused controversy when he said: "We still have hundreds of people that I would categorize as political prisoners in our prisons. Maybe even thousands, depending on how you categorize them." In 1988, Peggy Halsey, a senior member of the United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries, wrote about inmates of the High Security Unit in FMC Lexington and claimed that "over 100 other inmates are recognized as political prisoners by their respective movements for social change". In 1990, various left-wing groups supported the Freedom Now! coalition and organized a "Special International Tribunal" (or "1990 Tribunal") on political prisoners in the US. The 1990 tribunal was inspired by the 1951 We Charge Genocide petition and modeled on the 1966 Russell Tribunal on Vietnam. Freedom Now! alleged that there are "more than 100 people locked up in U.S. prisons because of their political actions or beliefs". The 1990 Tribunal reached the verdict that political people "have been subjected to disproportionately lengthy prison sentences and to torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment within the U.S. prison system." The US has recognized conscientious objection since its founding. However, the US