Solitary Confinement — Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Jail and Prison Conditions

Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.

Posts in Solitary Confinement

When Solitary Confinement Is A Death Sentence

“Arizona, where Abdullah died, is tied for sixth highest in its use of solitary confinement. It has also seen an uptick in the number of suicides and instances of self-harm. During the fiscal year in which Abdullah killed herself, six prisoners died by suicide in Arizona prisons. In fiscal year 2018, there were seven suicides and 708 recorded instances of self-harm. For the last three-quarters of fiscal year 2019, after the state changed how it documented these events, there were six suicides, 87 suicide attempts and 1,406 non-suicidal instances of self-harm in the average daily population of about 42,000 inmates.“

Huffington Post

August 29, 2019

Death in Prison, Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesAugust 29, 2019Arizona, Huffington PostComment

They Survived Solitary Confinement. Now They’re Fighting to End It.

“More than 80,000 people are locked in solitary confinement in the U.S., and the practice is finally garnering more public attention and outrage. Meanwhile, activists, including formerly incarcerated people who have experienced isolation themselves, are pushing for laws that limit the amount of time in solitary both as a way to immediately stop ongoing torture and as a stepping stone to larger criminal legal reforms.“

Truthout

August 12, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesAugust 12, 2019TruthoutComment

Solitary confinement used a record number of times in Minnesota last year

“Meanwhile, the department implemented new regulations in June that increase the maximum time allowed in solitary from 90 days to a year. It also put levels of infractions in place, designed to connect the infraction and the punishment. For example, Level 1 allows up to 30 days in solitary for minor misconduct, while a person may be sentenced to up to a year in segregation for “major offenses,” such as homicide or sexual assault.“

Minnesota Public Radio

August 12, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesAugust 12, 2019Minnesota, Minnesota Public RadioComment

What Do People in Solitary Confinement Want to See?

“According to many human-rights organizations, the prolonged lack of human contact and sensory deprivation that inmates experience in solitary confinement qualifies as torture. The legislative campaign that Tamms Year Ten spearheaded succeeded in closing the prison. The photo-request project continued, in affiliation with the watchdog group Solitary Watch. Now known as Photo Requests from Solitary, it is run by Reynolds, Jean Casella, a co-director of Solitary Watch, and Jeanine Oleson, a professor of photography at Parsons School of Design. According to Casella, in six years, the program has received a few hundred requests for people imprisoned in Illinois, New York, California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.“

The New Yorker

July 8, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesJuly 8, 2019The New Yorker, Photo Requests from SolitaryComment

I Developed Agoraphobia in Prison

“I used to go out to the exercise yard completely alone. But one day when I was out there, it was suddenly like all the air around me became a pressure force. I felt like I was between two pillars of concrete that were moving and crushing me, like I was having a heart attack. I couldn’t breathe. I started banging on the door to the yard to go back inside. I knew I needed to get out of this open area. I ran back to my cell. And within minutes, I was okay again. “

The Marshall Project

May 30, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesMay 30, 2019The Marshall ProjectComment

‘I’m angry & rageful & sad’: A Virginia inmate’s letters show why solitary confinement should concern us all.

“When we talk about solitary confinement, the common assumption is that prisons use it to control the worst of the worst, men and women who committed such horrific crimes that they will probably never walk out of those facilities. The letters from this inmate show that is not the case. They show that what happens behind those barbed-wired fences will be carried outside of them on the backs of those who are released.“

Washington Post

May 30, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesMay 15, 2019Washington Post, VirginiaComment

Torture does happen in N.J.'s prison, former inmates say. It's called solitary confinement.

“Under international law, more than 15 days of isolated confinement can be considered to be torture. Yet in New Jersey, some people are held in isolation for months. For 22-23 hours a day they are left only with a bed and their thoughts in a room that's typically no more than 8-by-10 feet. It causes lifelong trauma, increasing the risk that people become unnerved, irritable, erratic, depressed, irrational.“

New Jersey Star Ledger

April 14, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesApril 14, 2019New Jersey Star Ledger, New JerseyComment

How to Survive Solitary Confinement

“With a sigh, Johnny Perez rises from his plastic chair, unfolds his lanky frame and extends his wingspan until the tips of his middle fingers graze the walls. “It was from here to here,” he says. “I know because I used to do this all the time.” Until recently, these measurements—10 feet by 6 feet—fit his entire life.“

Pocket

April 1, 2019

Solitary ConfinementAnthony BradleyApril 1, 2019Pocket, Johnny PerezComment

Editorial: Legislature, governor must curb use of solitary confinement

“The argument for using solitary is that it is one of the few means that corrections officials have to discipline inmates. There is a place for it, such as in isolating gang members from one another in prison. But there need to be limits on the use of solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure. The HALT Act would allow the use of what’s euphemistically called “special housing units” only for prison violations that constitute a concrete and immediate threat to safety. The governor’s plan would allow time in such units for nearly any violation. There is likely a middle ground to be found.“

Buffalo News

March 16, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesMarch 16, 2019New York, Buffalo NewsComment

Judge finds Alabama prisons 'deliberately indifferent’ to isolated inmates

“U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled today that the Alabama Department of Corrections fails to adequately evaluate the mental health of inmates isolated in segregation cells, causing a risk of serious harm, and that the ADOC is “deliberately indifferent” to that failure.“

Birmingham News

February 11, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesFebruary 11, 2019Birmingham News, AlabamaComment

A Prison Strike in Minnesota Actually Got Results

“‘It is extremely unusual for prison officials to even acknowledge the legitimacy of prisoner grievances, much less negotiate with them,’ Wright said. ‘The response is almost invariably one of repression and silencing and terrorization to dissuade others from standing up for themselves’.“

The Appeal

January 25, 2019

Jail & Prison Conditions, Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesFebruary 1, 2019The Appeal, MinnesotaComment

How solitary confinement drove a young inmate to the brink of insanity

“Gay entered the Illinois Department of Corrections in 1994 as a young man, convicted of robbery after brawling with another teen who told police that Gay took his hat and stole a single dollar bill. He expected to serve as little as three and a half years. Instead, a fight with a fellow inmate led to Gay’s first stint in segregation, pushing him into a downward spiral that resulted in 22 years in solitary confinement. Shortly after the segregation started, the cutting and suicide attempts began.“

Chicago Tribune

January 2, 2019

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesJanuary 2, 2019Chicago Tribune, IllinoisComment

Virginia’s progress with solitary confinement may not be all it’s cracked up to be

“However, the state’s apparent progress is marred by a lack of transparency and by troubling signs suggesting the reforms may not be all they are cracked up to be. In September, a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of an inmate at Red Onion said he had been held for more than 12 years in solitary confinement, suffers from severe and deepening mental illness, which has gone untreated, and has been unable to access less restrictive housing owing to his inability to speak English and illiteracy in Spanish, his native language.“

Washington Post

December 11, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesDecember 11, 2018Virginia, Washington PostComment

Neuroscientists Make a Case against Solitary Confinement

“Even in less extreme cases than that of the Angola Three, prolonged social isolation—feeling lonely, not just being alone—can exact severe physical, emotional and cognitive consequences. It is associated with a 26 percent increased risk of premature death, largely stemming from an out of control stress response that results in higher cortisol levels, increased blood pressure and inflammation.“

The Scientific American

November 9, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesNovember 9, 2018The Scientific AmericanComment

Texas Prisons Lead the Nation in Long-Term Solitary Confinement

“Yet even as Texas curtails its use of solitary confinement, the state leads the nation in offenders held in long-term isolation. Nearly a third of Texas prisoners held in solitary have been there for six years or longer, according to a new report this week by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale University.“

Texas Observer

October 10, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesOctober 11, 2018Texas Observer, TexasComment

This Woman Was Shackled While Pregnant in Federal Prison. A New Bill Would Make Sure That Never Happens Again

“Today, members of Congress introduced a bill that aims to make sure what happened to Winn never happens to anyone else. Cosponsored by a majority of Democratic and Republican women in the House, the bill would ban the shackling and solitary confinement of pregnant inmates in the federal prison system. The Pregnant Women in Custody Act, introduced by Reps. Karen Bass (D–Calif.), Mia Love (R–Utah) and Catherine Clark (D–Mass.), would ban the use of restraints and restrictive housing on female inmates during pregnancy, during labor, and post-partum. It would also set standards of care for pregnant female inmates.“

Reason Magazine

September 13, 2018

Solitary Confinement, Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesSeptember 14, 2018Reason Magazine, Pregnant Women in Custody ActComment

Prisons Use Solitary Confinement to Silence Strikers Nationwide—But Their Voices Have Been Heard

“Incarcerated people at Lee Correctional continued to be held in conditions of solitary confinement following the riot, allegedly for safety reasons. One man held at Lee claimed that the officials were actually using solitary confinement as a method to prevent participation in the widely publicized nationwide strike. “

Solitary Watch

September 10, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesSeptember 11, 2018Solitary Watch, Prison StrikeComment

Stealing a hat and $1 landed him at Tamms. After decades in solitary, he’s now free.

“Gay expected to die in prison because of a long series of felony assaults on guards that consisted of throwing body waste or yanking back on chains. These sentences were consecutive and added 99 years to Gay’s prison time. He was up for parole at age 120.“

Belleville News Democrat

September 7, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesSeptember 7, 2018Belleville News Democrat, IllinoisComment

A Troubled Federal Prison Unit Gets New Life in a Different State

"The Bureau of Prisons claims that 'solitary confinement does not exist' in the federal prison system and considers placement in the SMU to be 'non-punitive.' It’s a rosy characterization roundly rejected by criminal justice advocates, incarcerated people, and reporters alike; 'USP Lewisburg might be the worst place in the federal prison system,' Justin Peters wrote in Slate in 2013, 'so bad that some inmates there actually dream of being transferred to the famously isolating Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado'."

The Appeal

August 21, 2018

Jail & Prison Conditions, Solitary ConfinementAnthony BradleyAugust 28, 2018The Appeal, Pennsylvania, Illinois

Release prisoners from solitary: This is psychological torture any way you put it

"I spent the next five years in isolation. Some days, the walls of my cell seemed to close in on me. Imagine being stuck in an elevator — for years. All day and night, people would bang on their lockers and scream in agony."

New York Daily News

August 18, 2018

Solitary ConfinementAnthony BradleyAugust 28, 2018New York Daily News