• Colorado prison director to reform solitary confinement after enduring it himself
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[url]http://rt.com/usa/colorado-prison-director-reform-solitary-293/[/url] [IMG]http://rt.com/files/news/22/fb/d0/00/rickraemisch.jpeg_0.jpg[/IMG] Colorado prison inmates who have spent time in solitary confinement should prepare to see their conditions change after the new executive director of the state’s department of corrections said spending 20 hours in isolation has inspired him to reform it. Rick Raemisch announced his intentions in an editorial for the New York Times, using the space to remind the public that prisoners who have committed even minor infractions in prison can often spend nearly two years in what is known as the solitary housing unit (SHU), or administrative segregation (ad-seg). “I would spend a total of 20 hours in that cell,” he wrote. “Which, compared to the typical stay, is practically a blink. On average, inmates who are sent to solitary spend an average of 23 months there. Some spend 20 years.” As reformers have tried to call attention to how inmates are punished behind bars, they have highlighted the numerous academic papers and medical studies that have found solitary confinement to be one of the most damaging mental experiences a person can endure. That seriousness is further exacerbated by the number of convicts who suffer from mental illness before they are ever placed in ad-seg. Raemisch described how he fully immersed himself, writing of how that experience can shift a person’s mentality. “First thing you notice is that it’s anything but quiet. You’re immersed in a drone of garbled noise – other inmates’ blaring TVs, distant conversations, shouted arguments,” he wrote. “I couldn’t make any sense of it, and was left feeling twitchy and paranoid. I kept waiting for the lights to turn off, to signal the end of the day. But the lights did not go off. I began to count the small holes carved in the walls. Tiny grooves made by inmates who’d chipped away at the cell as the cell chipped away at them.” The impact that leaves on a person not only wears on them through their time behind bars, Raemisch explained, but also when they re-enter society. “For a sound mind, those are daunting circumstances. But every prison in America has become a dumping ground for the mentally ill, and often the ‘worst of the worst’ – some of society’s most unsound minds – are dumped in ad-seg.
Fucking finally. If you break the law, you should be punished. No doubt about that. But Solitary is inhuman. Especially for prolonged periods of time it'll leave them a mental wreck, incapable of ever becoming a normal human being again. This should be abolished, and if not abolished it should be reformed.
What an awesome man.
Social interaction is a fucking [I]necessity[/I] for your psychological and mental health, and last time I checked it's never been humane to punish somebody by removing one of their necessities
We are social creatures.. if you remove the 'social' aspect, all you are left with is a creature. It's no way to rehabilitate a person, you just destroy any 'person' there was left. [QUOTE=Novangel;44089726]What an awesome man.[/QUOTE] Reminds me of Christopher Hitchens opting to get [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l34Tx9oAHZo"]water tortured[/URL] to show inhumane it was.
[QUOTE=Bradyns;44089902] Reminds me of Christopher Hitchens opting to get [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l34Tx9oAHZo"]water tortured[/URL] to show inhumane it was.[/QUOTE] Same with Mos Def undergoing Gitmo forcefeeding.
20 years in solitary confinement fuck that
I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] haha sure
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] Uuh, why?
20 years in solitary confinement? That would completely break you
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] Yeah because interactions with people sucks. Mental deterioration is waaaay better.
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison [B]I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/B][/QUOTE] No.Believe me, you fucking wouldn't.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;44090850]Yeah because interactions with people sucks. Mental deterioration is waaaay better.[/QUOTE] He probably thinks he's bugger bait or some shit. Prison rape happens a lot less often than you'd think though.
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44091153]He probably thinks he's bugger bait or some shit. Prison rape happens a lot less often than you'd think though.[/QUOTE] Listen buddy I watched the shawshank redemption once I've pretty much been there
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] You must have joined FP at the age of 6, because that is the most cavalier, and immature response to one of the most psychology altering positions of which one can be subjected. Sure, laugh about it in your comfy seat, but when push comes to shove, you would opt out after a week, and beg on your life after a month. I would never want to find myself in this situation; I'd rather death.
A [I]good[/I] prison director? Holy shit. Can we clone this guy and put him in charge of [I]every[/I] prison or something? Because the US really needs country-wide prison reform.
Damn this brings back memories. When I was 16 I went to jail, and as a juvenile I was locked up by myself. I was in for only a couple weeks, but by the third day it got to the point where I looked forward to mealtimes just so I could say a few words to someone, and I got a phone call once a week. Looking back it wasn't as bad as true solitary, but even so it was a hellish experience. I applaud this man for what he's doing. Hopefully this spreads and shit improves. [editline]1st March 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] Try it for a week first, then see if you can still say that.
[QUOTE=Cheif;44090595]I probably would regret it, but if I ever had to go to prison I would purposely get thrown into solitary.[/QUOTE] You'd regret that decision shortly after spending what you believe was 30 minutes in there, but was really only 10.
20+ hours really isnt a great timeframe to get the real deal but good on the guy for being the one to say "This is wrong, lets fix it" and not "This is wrong, but they're criminals they deserve it lolz". Also ad-seg as an abbreviation of administrative segregation sounds eerily 1984-ish :v:
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44091153]He probably thinks he's bugger bait or some shit. Prison rape happens a lot less often than you'd think though.[/QUOTE] Strangely, according to a prison story I read a while back, there's actually more mutual gay sex going on in prison (between "straight" people, mind you) then there is prison rape.
Didnt see it was him that mentioned it was pretty much a blink compared to proper solitary confinement. Pretty awesome guy in all! [editline]1st March 2014[/editline] Muh merge!
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