The Shocking Abuse of Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons
September 27, 2012 •
Bunk in Secure Housing Unit cell, Pelican Bay, California © Rina Palta/KALW
Today, Amnesty International issued a new report calling for an end to the use of prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement in California prisons. The report contains shocking details about the scope and impact of abusive use of solitary confinement on prisoners, ex-prisoners, families and communities.
[pullquote source=”Sister of a man held in solitary confinement for a total of 21 years” text=”There is no policing of the system, they do whatever they want and they get away with it.”]What’s Solitary Like?
Personally, I find it hard to imagine what it’s like to be held in solitary confinement for a couple days, let alone a couple decades. Medical doctors have described how, even after short periods of time, solitary can lead to insanity. I can see how after reading this Kafkaesque story about a prisoner who participated in a hunger strike to protest the use of solitary:
“The wife of an inmate currently held in the Pelican Bay SHU (Security Housing Units) told Amnesty International that her husband would regularly read the dictionary in order to keep his mind active. For a while he also cared for a frog which he had found in the exercise yard. He would collect worms and bugs to feed the frog. She explained that this interaction was particularly therapeutic for him having been held in solitary confinement without human contact for 16 years. When the hunger strikes began, as punishment for his participation, the guards took the frog away.”
Cell from corridor at Pelican Bay SHU © Private
How many people are held in solitary?
More than 3,000 prisoners in California are held in high security isolation units known as Security Housing Units, where they are confined for at least 22 and a half hours a day in single or double cells, with no work or meaningful rehabilitation programs or group activities of any kind.
More than 500 prisoners had spent 10 or more years in the Pelican Bay SHU, with 78 in solitary more than 20 years.
No other US state is believed to have held so many prisoners for such long periods in indefinite isolation.
But California is not alone in using prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement. The U.S. has become a world leader in the practice, holding people in inhumane conditions of isolation from Arizona to Illinois to Louisiana to Guantánamo. Reportedly, the U.S. holds “at least 25,000 inmates in isolation in supermax prisons.”
What’s the impact?
While there may be instances where holding prisoners in isolation is appropriate and humane, the use of prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement is a violation of the prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment found in international human rights law. By violating this prohibition, U.S. authorities not only abuse the rights of prisoners, they undermine the human rights that protect all of us from abuse.
The good news is that we can do something about it: E-mail Amnesty International’s recommendations for ending the use of prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement to California state authorities.
This is another example of the Element for enslavement using an available tool to further total enslavement of all mankind. It is an example of just how cruel and abusive supposedly fair minded human beings can be when mind programmed by the Element. It also shows how hundreds of millions of caring loving people can sit by and let it happen.
Is the Element on the Periodic Table?
Where is 'The Element' on the Periodic Table, hmmmm?
GOOD JOB PRISON SYSTEM THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PRISON SHOULD BE LIKE MAKE PEOPLE NOT WANT TO BE THERE AND NEVER COME BACK! LAST TIME I CHECK JAIL WASNT A RESORT IT WAS SOMEWHERE THAT IS HORRIBLE AND YOU NEVER WANT TO GO TO ORISON BUT NO PEOPLE LIKE THIS GROUP MAKES PRISON A VACATION!
The point of prison is to ensure accountability for a crime, after a fair trial – not to subject people to torture or ill-treatment.
I vacation in Orison all the time…its in the Lake country, doncha know.
Getalife should be in prison typing in all caps:-(
I love torture and ill treatment to someone that has prob raped and or killed some one. If you think that they should live the life of luxury in jail take them home with you.
So Damon, should the police have eaten Jeffry Dahmer?
http://www.cbs8.com/story/19604621/2-men-accused-… United States seeing alarming increase in abuse against severely autistic individuals.Parents spark awareness into importance of video surveillance.
United States seeing alarming increase in abusive, mindless and meaningless posts about autism!
I am speechless. I can't imagine what those people did to deserve this treatment, but it's cruel and inhuman
I don't think the prisoner's lives should be at all comfortable, but let's not cross the line on to torture…
It's appaling that we treat other human beings worse than animals. their background and past decisions don't matter at all. And don't get me started on the death penalty! As Gandhi said, an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
Prison should be a place for reeducation. Treating prisoners like this will only fill them with hate and dispair and when they get out they will want to get back at the system.