it is torture, in fact: why is it allowed?
I just read this and it find it unbearably sad. even if our justice system could be trusted to only contain people who belong there - should prison staff be the ones deciding who is in solitary and for how long? it seems like reform is badly needed.
Given the choice between that and the usual run of life in a general population prison situation…I’ll take the solitary.
In the U.S., at least, there are daily interactions with guards and authorities even in solitary. The food isn’t “pushed through a slot.” Things are bad here, but it isn’t a goddamn Alexandre Dumas novel.
That’s what I thought but I couple of friends of mine who spent time in prison said that anything is better than solitary.
The story quoted took place in New York.
as I was reading it, I wanted to know what his crime was but then I decided it doesn’t matter.
prison should be humane. hell, everywhere should be humane.
not having experienced it, we can only guess.
Do you have a cite? Any solitary confinement cells I’ve ever seen have had such accommodations (in the U.S.).
Solitary sounds truly unbearable, and should be reserved for extreme situations, like if the person is such a threat to others that there is no fair way to allow them near anyone. Even then, windows and ways to pass the time should be required.
Our prison system and its supporters make me sick.
Others may not agree with your opinion.
The writer of your story feels awfully sorry for himself. Many cons/ex-cons do. I have a few friends who fit the category. A lot of their problems are shared by many non-felons, and those from prison seem to think that their tough times are ‘Society’s’ fault, for not loving those whom they have warehoused/incarcerated.
He even complains that doors were operated by buzzers! What hell that must have been!
The solitary experience didn’t make the writer a screwball…life did. Or, whatever it is that shapes people.
The whole story is similar to a thousand and one prisoners’ rants, that have been around for the last umpteen years: He never did any wrong, and the guards are all evil. They always seem to want all of society to recognize their own special hell…and do something about it. I guess society needs to drop everything and get right on it.
I edited your post since it seemed to post most of the article.
And, since we haven’t experienced it, we need not give credence to the writer’s account, since he could be making it up. Let’s be real: What writer is going to say “Hey, I was a dumb fuck, and got only half of what I deserved”?
Maybe it’s hard for some to accept that this could be true.
Not only can food trays be “pushed through a slot,” there’s a prison in TN whose new doors came with the slots cut out in the wrong place. They’re down so low the guys have to squat, backwards, in order for the guards to do their cuffs. But they weren’t replaced because it would be too expensive.
(Everybody yell “cite.” Sorry, my bad, I don’t know how to. But Google-fu should pull it up.)
“The door was solid, without a food slot or window.”
Unless they aren’t getting fed at all, someone has to open the door to bring in the tray.
ETA; the same source mentions the prisoner being locked down alone “22 hours a day.” What happens in the other two hours?
I’m certainly not saying it’s pleasant by any means; I’m only saying it isn’t as bad as some are saying. Exaggerating the severity of the punishment is a bad arguing technique.
OMG, it’s like every prison in America is not exactly the same!?!?
Is this possible??
Solitary is bad, and very bad for the mentally ill.
And the mentally ill disproportionately end up in solitary, due mainly to the behavior problems exacerbated by their mental illness.
In my state, the food is pushed through a slot in the door. They get an hour out of their cell 3 x a week for exercise.
Some are confined in solitary as long as 364 days in a row.
98% of inmates in solitary would prefer to be back in the general population.
I’ve been attending to patients in solitary confinement for nearly 12 years now. It’s not a happy place.
Is it torture? For some folks with a certain mindset or mental illness I’d have to say it is.
What’s the other option for the mentally ill prisoners whose behavior would cause solitary confinement then?
And this issue isn’t adressed?
It is being addressed incorrectly.
As long as I had an ample supply of books and was allowed to send and receive mail, I think I would greatly prefer solitary confinement to interacting with the general prison population.
I don’t think a lot of people understand what solitary means, I really don’t.
from this link
For the inmates who endure it, life in solitary confinement means living 23 to 24 hours a day in a cell. Federal inmates in disciplinary segregation, for example, typically spend two days a week entirely in isolation, and 23 hours a day in their cell the remaining five days, when they are allotted 1 hour for exercise. Exercise usually takes place alone in an exercise room or a fenced or walled “dog run.” Some prisoners are escorted, in shackles, to the shower, while others have showers within their cells. They may or may not be allowed to leave their cells for visits or to make telephone calls.
Solitary confinement cells generally measure from 6 x 9 to 8 x 10 feet. Some have bars, but more often they have solid metal doors. Meals generally come through slots in these doors, as do any communications with prison staff. Within these cells, inmates lives of enforced idleness, denied the opportunity to work or attend prison programming, and sometimes banned from having televisions, radios, art supplies, and even reading materials in their cells.
from the same link: solitary costs more and has higher rates of recidivism.
Lots of inmates have said that. Very few still say it after a week in solitary.
Gee, that really sucks (if any of it is true - I am not sure I would take a prisoner’s word for much).
Too bad there isn’t anything he could have done to avoid solitary, like abide by the rules, or even (God forbid) not get sent to prison in the first place.
Regards,
Shodan
PS - I click on a link about people in prison, and it takes me to a Nancy Pelosi ad. I wonder if anyone else sees any irony in that.