Solitary Confinement: Cruel And Unusual?

[Rageaholic]

Thought this was an interesting (though disturbing) article.

This woman was arrested in Iran and placed in solitary confinement for 13 months. What she describes is horrific and with a few exceptions (heinous violent criminals), I wouldn't wish this on anyone. That said, I understand the purpose of it (to keep especially violent criminals from hurting others), but unless it's a safety issue, than I think we should reconsider this.

[s_stabeler]

I can't really see a good reason to put someone in solitary confinement unless there is a major safety risk.

[crashhelmet]

They need to re-think or re-design the solitary confinement cells. As it is now, most are similar to what's commonly referred to as "The Hole." They're 4 solid walls with a solid door. Some have feeding slots, others do not. They create complete darkness for the prisoners and is the cause of mental trauma. Claustrophobia and Non-24 Hour Sleep Wake Disorder tend to kick in first and their mental capabilities deteriorate.

You could keep a a prisoner isolated and in "solitary confinement" in a barred cell. They could see the change from day to night, see outside their cell. This would alleviate most cases of mental trauma. But it's more expensive to build a cell like this and for that reason alone, they tend to stick with "The Hole."

[BrenDAnn]

It's not just prisons that this sort of isolation occurs in, unfortunately. There is, currently, a big battle over the use of isolation cells in juvenile homes here in Iowa. I know the juvenile facility my nephew was in for a while used them. I wouldn't wish them on anyone of any age. I believe them cruel and unusual and then some!

[Gravekeeper]

Seeing as death row prisoners have been known to halt their own appeals simply because getting executed would get them out of solitary faster...yeah I would venture that its cruel and unusual punishment.

[bara]

Also important to note that not all prisoners are in solitary for rule breaking. Some are put in for their own protection from other prisons. Due to cruddy prisons/overcrowding they simply have no place else to put them.

While I do believe we need to be tough on hardened career criminals, some prisoners who get sent to the hole aren't necessarily career criminals who have no hope of rehabilitation. Not that prisons seem to be all the good at rehabilitation anyway, but driving people completely batshit insane when they are already sociopaths is probably the wrong decision.

[Rageaholic]

^

That could be a problem of too many people being in prison for petty/small stuff. I don't have the statistics, but America has a the biggest incarceration rate in the world. A lot of those people probably don't belong in prison.

[Gravekeeper]

^

That could be a problem of too many people being in prison for petty/small stuff. I don't have the statistics, but America has a the biggest incarceration rate in the world. A lot of those people probably don't belong in prison.

Not only the highest incarceration rate, but the most people in prison. Period. 5% of the world's population, 24% of its prisoners. All thanks to good ol' mandatory drug sentencing from Papa Reagan. 50% of state prisoners and 90% of federal are in jail for non-violent crimes.

[crashhelmet]

Not only the highest incarceration rate, but the most people in prison. Period. 5% of the world's population, 24% of its prisoners. All thanks to good ol' mandatory drug sentencing from Papa Reagan. 50% of state prisoners and 90% of federal are in jail for non-violent crimes.

I used to think it was because of the mandatory drug sentences and now I think it's due to corporate greed.

Companies like Corrections Corporation of America operate 67 prisons, with 92k beds. They rake in $1.7Billion (Yes, with a B) each year in housing our inmates.

The Geo Group has 96 prisons and 73k beds. They generate $1.6Billion in revenue.

Yes, these companies only account for about 10-15% of our prison population, but companies need to generate revenue. Cue the lobbyists in the capital to start throwing money around and soon enough, we'll be jailing people for jaywalking.

[bara]

For Profit Prisons has got to be one of the most wrong headed stupid ideas ever conceived in this country.

[Rageaholic]

For Profit Prisons has got to be one of the most wrong headed stupid ideas ever conceived in this country.

Reminds me of the kids for cash scandal. I'm surprised more stuff like this hasn't happened.

[Rageaholic]

Holy shit, it's worse than I thought.

Solitary confinement is being used to punish inmates who report rape. Not that it's surprising that they cover this shit up (prisons are a business after all), but damn...

[AccountingDrone]

Also important to note that not all prisoners are in solitary for rule breaking. Some are put in for their own protection from other prisons. Due to cruddy prisons/overcrowding they simply have no place else to put them.

While I do believe we need to be tough on hardened career criminals, some prisoners who get sent to the hole aren't necessarily career criminals who have no hope of rehabilitation. Not that prisons seem to be all the good at rehabilitation anyway, but driving people completely batshit insane when they are already sociopaths is probably the wrong decision.

They could install a small 2 or 3 watt permanently on 'night light' and then have the cell lights set to cycle on and off on a schedule - like on at 5 am, off at 11 pm. If they put in a full spectrum bulb, it would make it easier on people as well - the minimum act of humanity IMHO. Also allowing something like a small radio for people who have been behaving [with some sort of limiter on the volume or headphones] and access to the library for reading material - perhaps GED or some sort of educational program.

Frankly, if they simply went with building one of the old panoptican prisons but with a narrow slit window facing outwards for light and view, solid ceilings instead of bars and otherwise went with a small radio and access to educational programs or reading material solitary would be wonderful. Really, isolate me wit access to educational programs and shove a tray in 3 times a day and I would be just fine.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Definitely cruel and unusual.

Story time. Australia used to be a penal colony. Knick a loaf of bread in London, get sent out here for 7 years or more. Hey, beats hanging, right?

So once you were out here, if you behaved you got sent off to work for a free settler, who may or may not treat you decently, until your sentence expired, upon which you stayed and settled as well, or sailed back to Ol' Blighty.

If you misbehaved (ie knicked another loaf of bread, goofed off at your slave-level job etc) you got sent to a recidivist prison like Port Arthur. Things were a tad tougher there - floggings, hangings, hard labour etc. After all, you were a doubly-convicted convict.

Then some bright spark back in London decided that hard labour, floggings etc were cruel and unusual punishments, so they instituted the Separate Prison.

The Separate Prison was just that. Single person cells rather than dorms, the only light source a small barred window up near the ceiling, so all you could see was sky. (It was supposed to drive your thoughts towards God.) You stayed in that cell 23 hours a day. You worked at whatever the guards gave you during the day. You weren't permitted to talk to them, and they could only give you whispered orders. Your one hour a day out of the cell was time for the exercise yard. You had to wear a felt hood over your face, as did everyone else, and you still couldn't talk to anyone. You walked around a small paved area in silence for an hour, then back to your cell.

The cells existed in pretty much silence - no talking, the guards whispered to each other, and they even wore padded boots that made no sound on the stone floors.

On Sundays you got to go to Chapel. Again, felt hoods worn so nobody knew who anyone was. No talking. You filed in to the (standing) pews in the chapel, each man separated from his neighbour by a wooden folding door. It resembles a horse stall. All you could see from your standing position was the preacher. Then back to your silent cell again. Essentially you had almost no interpersonal contact with anyone whilst you were housed there.

If you misbehaved in the Separate Prison, they had an even worse isolation cell, which has absolutely no natural light at all. It is one of the grimmest places I have ever been.

Can you imagine living like this for years?

Oddly enough, they didn't need to build an asylum at Port Arthur until after the Separate Prison was built.

http://www.portarthur.org.au/index.aspx?base=1471

[Panacea]

For Profit Prisons has got to be one of the most wrong headed stupid ideas ever conceived in this country.

Amen to that. There is no incentive to rehabilitate the product: prisoners.

They could install a small 2 or 3 watt permanently on 'night light' and then have the cell lights set to cycle on and off on a schedule - like on at 5 am, off at 11 pm. If they put in a full spectrum bulb, it would make it easier on people as well - the minimum act of humanity IMHO. Also allowing something like a small radio for people who have been behaving [with some sort of limiter on the volume or headphones] and access to the library for reading material - perhaps GED or some sort of educational program.
<snip>
Really, isolate me wit access to educational programs and shove a tray in 3 times a day and I would be just fine.

Sorry, the research doesn't support that you would be fine. Quite the converse.

Having worked in prisons, they are horrific. Solitary doesn't stop aggressive behavior; it intensifies it. Add to that many of these guys suffer from psychotic illnesses, and you have a volatile mix.

Not so oddly, quite a few of my legal consulting cases involve solitary confinement. Governments are settling or losing these cases all the time, to a high cost to tax payers.