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.
“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
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