Activists seeking an end to solitary confinement brought their message to Rochester in a dramatic way over the past few days.
They installed a replica of a solitary confinement cell in the South Wedge Mission on Caroline Street so visitors could experience the isolation themselves.
The activists are part of the statewide Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. The effort also includes a statewide advocacy day to push for legislation to end the practice in New York State prisons.
The campaign is asking residents to urge state legislators to pass Senate bill S.4784A and Assembly bill A.3080B.
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2018.
Brother, you got it so right! Solitary confinement as practiced in this state is torture. But we are going to change that, just as other states have done. And as the data proves, the results will mean lower rates of recidivism . This is because the relentlessly punitive model of incarceration fails on all accounts when compared to a restorative model which attempts to repair the damages of trauma as a benefit to society at large.
The reporter says he wondered “What kind of crime do you have to commit to get put in solitary?” Too bad he didn’t take the time to find out. The answer is that placement in the solitary has nothing to do with the crime someone has committed. People are put in solitary for breaking prison rules–including for nonviolent infractions like smoking marijuana or mouthing off to corrections officers. We torture people for transgressions as minor as that. And no judge or jury sends them to solitary–it’s done on the say-so of prison staff, and there is virtually no recourse. That’s why advocates are working to pass the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which would replace long-term solitary with safe and humane alternatives.
Bah, that’s nothing. Let me tell you something, when I was in ‘Nam we had to endure solitary confinement whenever we were captured or imprisoned. Once, when I was over the rice paddy field in Quang Tin I had to hide in marsh covered with reeds to avoid the enemy and I learned fast to remain perfectly still. I still remember that as clear as day just like I remember my Mai Ling. That SOB President Trump should have to suffer in solitary confinement then maybe he will get a dose of reality!