> More than 50 people have been in solitary confinement for longer than five years. At the same time, the average length of stay in isolation has gone down, to 190 days as of December from 225 days last year.
For me, this is a gut-wrenching statistic. Solitary confinement is a horrendously brutal form of punishment and if used at all, I believe it must be used very sparingly.
>The agreement establishes a maximum sentence of three months for most disciplinary violations, except assaults, and 30 days for almost any prisoner who has committed a nonviolent infraction for the first time. Isolation will no longer be imposed for first-time violations for drug use or possession, which in the past accounted for as much as one-fifth of the solitary population.
>The number of infractions punishable by solitary confinement will be cut in half, and violations that once gave corrections officers wide discretion to impose long sentences, such as “disobeying orders,” will now have a maximum of 30 days.
These are significant improvements and those responsible should feel very proud.
In Poland solitary is only for serious violation of order and is limited to 28 days. There are seven other punishments that limit access of the prisoner to nice things (like buying things in the shop or meeting visitors without the glass) for up to 3 months.
I completely agree. Sounds like this agreement wasn't easy to come to as the article mentioned that the guards' union pushed back against many of the reforms. Hopefully there will be continual improvement in the years to come, rather than stagnation.
Exactly why do we need "solitary confinement" in the first place?
If a person is dangerous for others or some extra punishment is needed, put them in a single cell, but in the same place as the other cells and just don't let them get out (for the restaurant, exercise yard, etc.) for the confinement period.
Unless they scream or something, there's no need to be a totally isolated room.
A question that should be asked! When you investigate it, the American prison system is unconscionably harsh and is tantamount to torture, not only that but the sentences are extremely long by global standards.
For 23 hours a day, 4,000 inmates are locked in concrete 6-by-10-foot cells, sometimes for years, with little if any human contact, no access to rehabilitative programs and a diet that can be restricted to a foul-tasting brick of bread and potatoes known at the prisons as “the loaf.”
For me, this is a gut-wrenching statistic. Solitary confinement is a horrendously brutal form of punishment and if used at all, I believe it must be used very sparingly.
>The agreement establishes a maximum sentence of three months for most disciplinary violations, except assaults, and 30 days for almost any prisoner who has committed a nonviolent infraction for the first time. Isolation will no longer be imposed for first-time violations for drug use or possession, which in the past accounted for as much as one-fifth of the solitary population.
>The number of infractions punishable by solitary confinement will be cut in half, and violations that once gave corrections officers wide discretion to impose long sentences, such as “disobeying orders,” will now have a maximum of 30 days.
These are significant improvements and those responsible should feel very proud.