Legal Settlement Moves 1,100+ NY Inmates Out of Solitary

[downtoearth]

The Settlement That Will Move 1,100+ NY Inmates Out of Solitary Confinement

New York State has reached an agreement that will revamp its approach to using solitary confinement and require corrections officers to undergo mandatory de-escalation training.

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The state of New York has reached a settlement with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) that will reshape how the state uses solitary confinement.

Per the agreement, about one quarter (1,100+) of the inmates current housed in solitary confinement (officially called “Special Housing Units, or “SHU”) will be moved to less isolated rehabilitative spaces. Those moved will largely be juveniles, people who have been there the longest, those with developmental disabilities, and those who need behavioral or drug therapy.

Moving forward, the state will be forced to narrow the infractions that can land an inmate in the SHU as well as how long they can be kept there. In addition, officers will no longer be allowed to withhold edible food as punishment, and the state must increase rehabilitative opportunities available in solitary. The settlement also requires the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to undergo de-escalation training, and provide access to telephone calls and reading materials. The settlement still needs to be approved by the courts, and it comes with a $62 million state commitment for implementation.

It arises out of Peoples v. Fischer, a lawsuit brought by three inmates—Leroy Peoples, Tonja Fenton and Dwayne Richardson—and has been three years in the making.

“New York State has recognized that solitary confinement is not only inhumane but detrimental to public safety and has committed to changing the culture of solitary within state prisons,” said NYCLU executive sirector Donna Lieberman said in a statement. “No prison system of this size has ever taken on such sweeping and comprehensive reforms to solitary confinement at one time. Today marks the end of the era where incarcerated New Yorkers are simply thrown into the box to be forgotten under torturous conditions as a punishment of first resort, and we hope this historic agreement will provide a framework for ending the abuse of solitary confinement in New York State.”

Colorlines Link and Link to full Atlantic article

Note: From the Atlantic Article, I found this interesting...

"In June, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote an unusual concurring opinion that all but urged the legal community to bring a case about long-term solitary confinement to the Supreme Court’s docket. Invoking Medley, Kennedy wrote that recent scholarship “still confirms what this Court suggested over a century ago: Years on end of near-total isolation exact a terrible price.” He described it even more bluntly during a congressional hearing three months earlier. Solitary confinement, Kennedy told legislators, “literally drives men mad.”"

[twotrue]

I'm really happy the state has moved making this change, even if it was because of a lawsuit and not voluntarily.

[pixy0stix]

They were withholding food?

[ESF]

I saw the title and was like, "there are 1,100 people in solitary confinement in NY alone??

Then I saw that that's only a quarter of the solitary population in that state.

Holy shit. I feel like an idiot for not realizing how huge our solitary population is. This is disgusting.

[ESF]

WAIT, THERE ARE JUVENILES IN SOLITARY?

WHAT? Like there for long periods of time? HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOW IS THIS AMERICA?

Am I the only one who didn't know this?

My god, I feel ill.

ETA I should have kept reading. People with developmental disabilities too?

OMFG. I need to give the ACLU prison project money today.

[downtoearth]

Dec 23, 2015 12:32:18 GMT -5 ESF said:

I saw the title and was like, "there are 1,100 people in solitary confinement in NY alone??

Then I saw that that's only a quarter of the solitary population in that state.

Holy shit. I feel like an idiot for not realizing how huge our solitary population is. This is disgusting.

You're better than me, I started singing the tiny-boxes song in my head when I read about that numbers. 

But it's so disgusting that it took a lawsuit b/c this is basically a whole high school worth of "juveniles, people who have been there the longest, those with developmental disabilities, and those who need behavioral or drug therapy" who have been in isolation.

[pixy0stix]

Dec 23, 2015 12:33:34 GMT -5 ESF said:

Am I the only one who didn't know this?

I knew this from when we talked/argued about death sentences vs. life sentences. It sparked one of the larger debates on the board. The numbers out there are appalling.