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.
“In a statement Thursday, the ACLU says the new policy allows incarcerated people to order books and publications directly from publishers and vendors. The ACLU says it's pleased with the change, but remains concerned that incarcerated people are deprived of reading opportunities.“
Corrections One
June 8, 2019
Read More“The American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that a Georgia sheriff is violating the rights of jail inmates by prohibiting them from receiving outside books and magazines. The ACLU sent a letter to Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher urging him to rescind a new policy that says inmates at the county jail in Savannah can no longer receive books or magazines by mail or from visitors. The policy restricts inmates to selecting reading materials from book carts managed by jail staff.“
Minnesota Star Tribune
April 10, 2019
Read More"Yet in the El Paso County Jail in Colorado, Sheriff’s Deputy Sandra Rincon was celebrated with a tiara, a “princess” plate, and a cake with the number “50” on top. The number, however, wasn’t her age. It referred to the number of times she had used force against prisoners, ranging from handcuffing to punching and kicking. She was the winner of what one of the county jailers called a “fight club,” crowning whoever used force most often as the champion."
ACLU
July 24, 2018
Read More"Before these people died in 2017, they were among the 34,000 people housed in Arizona’s state prisons who are completely dependent upon the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) and its for-profit contractor, Corizon Health, for all medical and mental health care. ADC, in its own reviews, found that these deaths were 'caused by or affected in a negative manner by healthcare personnel'."
ACLU
June 25, 2018
Read More"In 2016, 242 inmates were still in isolation at Red Onion and another facility, Wallens Ridge State Prison. And the ACLU’s research suggests that the spirit of reform has not permeated the state’s Department of Corrections. The advocacy group collected harrowing prisoner accounts of their time in solitary."
Washington Post
June 3, 2018
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