When I started looking for information about the use of
solitary confinement in Texas, I naively assumed that there were laws and rules
governing the use of same. It didn’t take much research to disabuse me of that
happy little fantasy.
So what is solitary confinement? It means isolating a
prisoner in a small cell, usually with a solid door and the lights always on,
for 22-24 hours a day. Solitary confinement has become so common that there are
“Supermax” facilities at the state and federal level that are comprised mostly
or entirely of solitary confinement cells. At the state level, there is little
reporting and oversight of the use of solitary confinement. The management of
its use is generally internal to the prison, which means that prisoners have no
recourse or protection.
- About 4.4% of Texas prisoners, or 6,500 people, are in solitary confinement.
- On average, these prisoners spend FOUR years in solitary confinement, but over 100 prisoners spent more than TWENTY years in solitary.
- There is no rehabilitation from solitary before jail release; in 2013, Texas released 1,243 prisoners directly from solitary confinement to civilian life.
- Maintaining the solitary prisoners costs Texans $46 million a year.
“We’re
torturing people, in my eyes. We’re torturing people and then we’re letting
them out. It’s not to our advantage as a community to do that.” Betty Gilmore,
SMU
Human beings are social animals. We
do not do well deprived of human contact. There is a multitude of mental and
emotional side effects of solitary confinement. These include: hypersensitivity to stimulus, hallucinations,
panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, nightmares, insomnia, dizziness,
depression, suicide, and total mental breakdown.
What makes this even more horrific
is the fact that the many if not most prison inmates suffer from mental
illness before they ever set foot in prison. Due to our lack of mental health
care, prisons have become de facto housing units for the mentally ill. The fact
that we’re essentially torturing people who are already victims is sadistic.
Well, you might think, people only
get put in solitary if they are violent and dangerous. It’s a necessary evil.
Well no, not exactly. The reasons why people get placed in solitary vary widely
and often have nothing to do with safety:
acting violent, possession of weapon, testing positive for drug use,
possessing contraband, using profanity, ignoring orders, exhibiting mental
illness, being gay, being transgender, being a minor, being Muslim, being
Rastafarian, reporting rape or abuse by prison guards, using social media, having
gang associations….
So, in civilian life, you might be
bullied, teased, fired, harassed, or beat up for being a little different. In
jail, it is perfectly legal for the state to torture you to insanity for these
things. And there’s no avenue to plead your case. There’s nothing but your own
strength to keep your mind from flying apart as you spend years staring at gray
walls.
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