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.
“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
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