# What is solitary confinement in US prisons like today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488 "2019-06-13T18:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488/21 "2019-06-14T15:06:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Heh. According to my son, who works in a prison, you do not do stuff like that in isolation. You do not “force the staff to come in and get them”. Rather, the staff calls together an extraction team who enter the cell en masse and extract the prisoner from the cell, using shields and batons to force compliance. Once the prisoner is chained outside of the cell the staff then gets their tray and the prisoner is then returned to his cell. And tear gas. In fact, we’re supposed to use tear gas before we use an extraction team. At least that’s the official policy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488/22 "2019-06-14T16:04:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And tear gas. > > In fact, we’re supposed to use tear gas before we use an extraction team. At least that’s the official policy. Yeah, when I talk with my son I’m always a little hesitant to ask about work. He really enjoys his job, though. I just hope he can eventually get more into pushing paper instead of wrestling prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488/23 "2019-06-14T16:16:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I think [if I were actually guilty of whatever the crime/s was/were] I would prefer execution to life in solitary You say this now, speculating on a hypothetical. But if it ever became your actual _life_, you may feel very differently. The drive to stay alive is hard to extinguish in most people. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488/24 "2019-06-14T16:27:55Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You say this now, speculating on a hypothetical. But if it ever became your actual _life_, you may feel very differently. The drive to stay alive is hard to extinguish in most people. Indeed. There are people on death row, for instance, who will try to use all sorts of delaying tactics to buy themselves even just a few more minutes of life as execution nears - literally just a few more minutes. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488/25 "2019-06-14T16:53:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s not called the hole. It’s called the box. (At least it is in every prison in New York.) In Kansas prisons, disciplinary seg is called the hole. Protective custody is a separate area just called PC (the act of requesting to be moved to PC is “checking in”). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-solitary-confinement-in-us-prisons-like-today/835488.md?page=1)