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.
““This is about treating people like human beings,” said Councilmember Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor. “And this is one amongst many requirements we’re putting forward that will start treating people like human beings and start making these new facilities feel much different than what we’re leaving behind with Rikers Island.”“
The City
September 26, 2019
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