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.
“According to data obtained and analyzed by The Inquirer, 73% of all inmates released from Philadelphia jails from April 2017 to April 2018 — more than 16,000 prisoners — were discharged after the cashier’s offices had closed, leaving them without any identification, cash, phone or other possessions for hours or even days. The offices are closed on weekends.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 12, 2019
Read More“Gov. Wolf, I urge you to visit another prison. Talk with those who have to live in these places for years and decades. Take a ride to Philadelphia, from where most of the DOC's population is drawn, and meet the families who already suffer enough and would break under any additional hardship. Meet with the legal community. Hear about the years of litigation Pennsylvania taxpayers will have to pay for because of these new, unnecessary violations of attorney-client privilege.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 21, 2018
Read More“In the past few weeks, protesters have assailed the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' strict new policies on inmate mail and books, including a $4 million contract with a Florida company to scan and forward incoming mail, and the prohibition of direct donations from organizations like Books Through Bars.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 18, 2018
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