After reading “The Cost of Solitary Confinement,” I agree that the use of solitary confinement should be abolished in prison. Before the reading, I have never heard of such a thing as solitary confinement. Once I started reading the story, I immediately thought this was a foul in wrong thing to be doing, and was flabbergasted that it was even existed in our prisons today. There are many different reasons that I agree with this, but I'm only going to be focusing on if you of them. First off, if none of you are familiar with solitary confinement is, I'll give you a little run down.…
The United States prison system is notorious for the way it treats its inmates. There are so many theories, and facts to back up the claim that the prison system is not working the way it was intended to be, and it continues to be a growing issue that the government is not addressing. Further, within the already complicated prison system, there is another issue. Solitary confinement, which was originally supposed to be used as a short term punishment within prisons, or jails, has now become an integrated part of prison life (Edge, 2014). Solitary Nation, is 2014 documentary highlights the damages that solitary confinement is doing to people (Edge, 2014). Individuals whom have not shown any signs of degrading mental health come out of segregation, or as the inmates call it, “seg,” disturbed (Edge, 2014).…
Solitary confinement has been called into question as violating of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The Eighth Amendment guarantee the protect from any cruel and unusual punishment. On Febuarary 24, 2012, a Russian immigrant named Viktor Bout challenged the use of solitary confinement during his time in Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). Bout was convicted on 2 November 2011, for conspiracy of attempting to smuggle arms to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to kill U.S. citizens and delivery of anti-aircraft missiles. Once Bout was convicted he was held in solitary confinement for fourteen months. Judge Scheindlin (2012) ruled that,…
The decision from Mayer Bill de Blasio to end solitary confinement for juvenile inmates in New York City may be the action needed to lead to a more humane treatment of the incarcerated. Solitary confinement has often been argued that it falls against the constitutionally given right to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishments. Subjecting juveniles to this kind of treatment, makes it an even more controversial topic. Because solitary has the reputation of degrading the human mind, juveniles, who already have a delicate mental imbalance, are likely to suffer more as they go through the daily “23 hours” of depressions, hallucinations, and desperations that are caused by solitary. It can also be disputed that solitary can be for the juveniles’…
This article talks about the lack of research done on jail isolation. It also looks at the potential repercussions of the practice of isolating inmates and how isolation as a tool so becoming more and more common with time. The paper goes into detail about one specific jail, Rikers Island, which has been accused many times of participating in controversial practices relating to rape, neglect, and corrupt officers. Lurigio uses Rikers Island as an example for much of his argument. The studies done at Rikers Island and the scandals that have come out of it act as Lurigio’s evidence. The article also addresses the risk of serious harm that isolated confinement is known to represent. Lurigio believes isolation possesses a serious threat to the…
I agree that the best temporary solution for Brandon's situation is to remove him from the general population of the prison and place him in some sort of solitary confinement. Many prisons have a mental health section that is less restricted than the harsh conditions of the solitary confinement area and that are managed by mental health doctors in conjunction with guards with special mental health training. As a result of so many mentally ill people entering jails, the largest mental health facilities in the U.S. are actually county jails. For this reason the U.S. needs to continue to improve it's treatment facilities so these mentally ill members of society are not lumped in with hardened criminals to be further victimized and mentally…
Since 2002, the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Although prison populations are increasing in some parts of the world, the natural rate of incarceration for countries comparable to the United States tends to stay around 100 prisoners per 100,000 population. The U.S. rate is 500 prisoners per 100,000 residents, or about 1.6 million prisoners in 2010, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Prison is a place used for internment of convicted criminals. Not including the death penalty, a sentence to prison is the harshest punishment inflicted on criminals in the United States. On the federal level, imprisonment or incarceration is managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a federal…
Solitary confinement should be a last resort. The government is taking advantage of the power and it is now common for solitary confinement to be enforced. Solitary is used for minor things going from enforcing fear to a result of downright defiance. This is a constant occurrence many state prisons today. Inmate are sentenced to solitary confinement for little things such as possessing contraband and using profanity. This is effecting many of the inmates in solitary confinement because inmates are in solitary for years at a time. There is no wonder why it has such drastic psychological effects. Solitary should be used as it used to as a last resort for the worst of the worst but now it is just a commonality used to enforce fear into the inmates that serve their sentences at these state prisons throughout the…
There is a lot of controversy about if solitary confinement be cruel and unusual punishment? So does solitary confinement violate our rights as an American citizen? Solitary Confinement is when an inmate is placed in a cell by themselves with no contact with other except with guards. The cells are usually very small and they stay in their cell for 22 to 23 hours a day .Solitary confinement is a violation of the 8th amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment because it inmates are more likely to hurt or kill themselves , it causes brain damage and inmates are denied of basic needs .…
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the prison system in the united states. Some of the controversies involve overcrowding, excessive costs, and the increase of violence. One of the biggest issue is solitary confinement. Although many way that solitary confinement is the only solution to keep and restrain violent inmates, because research shows that solitary confinement does more good than bad, harms the mental state of prisoners, and is more costly than the regular prisons, the practice should be abandoned and made illegal in all 50 states.…
"Supermax" is short for "super-maximum security." It is a place designed to house violent prisoners or prisoners who might threaten the security of the guards or other prisoners. Some prisons that are not designed as supermax prisons have "control units" in which conditions are similar. The theory is that solitary confinement and sensory deprivation will bring about behavior modifications.…
Solitary confinement, a tortuous punishment dating back to 1829, is much alive and still in use in prisons around the world. Prisoners that are put into solitary confinement spend at least 23 hours in a small closet sized room with little to no contact with other human beings and no way to exercise their minds. In these poor conditions, prisoners find it easy to lose a grip on reality; they suffer from a wide range of things including, insomnia, distortion of perception, hallucinations, and PTSD even after being released. Even though countless studies have proven the detrimental effects of solitary confinement, not much has been done to prohibit its usage in the United States.…
[24, 25, 26] While solitary confinement is serious and hard among people who don’t have mental illness, as well that going to got these kinds of illnesses due to it can be intolerable for the mentally ill, so most of the security prisoners who sentenced for solitary confinement psycho-mentally problems, by the way they comprise a major proportion of the security prisoners population. Solitary confinement is liable to multiply psychotic states, or to excite dormant mental problems. [27, 28,…
This paper touches base with the reality that it solitary confinement and everything that goes along with that punishment. These supermax prisons are often overlooked by the everyday citizen; this leaves the inmates serving time in one of these facilities feeling isolated, not only in spirit but in the physical as well. It is the research of a few scientists, but more actual POW victims that will be able to shed some light on what really goes on in the depths of the human mind. It will also spend some time looking at what are some of the possible mental outcomes of these inmates, and will see if these problems are even relevant and if they are, are they permanent? The main objective of this paper is to ask the question “Is solitary confinement a constitutional and humane punishment?”…
Solitary confinement has been in use since 1829, beginning in Europe, with people thinking that isolation helps in the rehabilitation of prisoners. It goes by a number of names, from the “SHU” (solitary housing unit), to the Hole. Today, this practice is still used in most countries, to punish prisoners for breaches of prison rules, or to protect inmates from the violence of others. In solitary, there’s a chance for quiet self-reflection; a respite from the busy, loud prison lifestyle. Arguably, this practice should continue, as it increases safety for prisoners, often acts as the first form of rehabilitation for dangerous criminals, and allows inmates to be punished for infractions in prison, without receiving more time on their sentence.…