What is solitary confinement in US prisons like today?

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.

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.

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”).