![]() Many go in with a minor infraction only to come out more broken than ever.įrom an outside perspective, solitary confinement is necessary to control the prison scene. The reason for this is less a product of these inmates being violent sorts than it is due to the lack of training of the unit's staff to best deal with mentally ill prisoners. But for inmates that already have a mental health condition, stresses the AVID Prison Project, a disability rights organization, "these conditions can have a catastrophic impact." Their 2016 report, Locked Up & Locked Down: Segregation of Inmates with Mental Illness, reveals how mentally ill prisoners, unable to cope with the circumstances, often end up with further violations, frequently against staff, appearing to be the "angry, spitting monsters" we might imagine. The ASCA polling showed that high percentages of prisoners in restrictive housing are classified as having "serious mental health issues." In Louisiana, for instance, 38.7% of those housed in solitary confinement fall under this category.Īny inmate placed under the harsh conditions of segregation will experience intense mental and physical distress. Solitary confinement has especially become a revolving-door epidemic for those with mental illness. 2015, a room used for recreation by inmates in solitary confinement at the Washington. For example, in October of 2016, New Jersey proposed a bill preventing the use of solitary confinement for pregnant women, those under 21 or over 65, and those with a mental illness, a developmental disability or other serious impairment. ![]() ![]() The heinous use of solitary confinement has become so bad that the federal government and several state legislatures have stepped in to develop statutes in an effort to at least protect the more vulnerable amongst the prison society. In 2015, the prison authority in California was taken to court over their practice of housing known gang members in isolation for years on end for no better reason than "just in case." It resulted in a victory for those housed there and recent reforms to prohibit the practice. Called Administrative Segregation, authorities use this as a better-safe-than-sorry option that often turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy by spawning contemptuous residents. Prison systems often use solitary confinement to house well-behaved inmates claiming there is a potential threat to prison security. "I just spent two weeks in the hole," admitted one Oregon inmate, "locked down for 23-plus hours a day with a blanket and a book because I violated a prison rule by helping a neighbor compose a legal brief." He has never committed a violent act during his decade-long prison stay. Hailey was sent to for arguing about cleaning a jailhouse shower, during her more than three years as an inmate at the facility. A solitary confinement cell in 2016 at New York City's Riker's Island jail, similar to a cell Candie.
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