What Solitary Confinement Does to the Mind

Voices from Solitary: What Solitary Confinement Does to the Mind by Voices from Solitary The following was submitted to Solitary Watch by Michael Jewell, who was sentenced to death in Texas for capital murder in 1970 and spent three years in solitary confinement as a death row prisoner. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1973 following the 1972 Supreme Court ruling in Furman v. Georgia, which prohibited the death penalty nationwide until the decision was overturned in 1976 in Gregg v. Georgia. Over the next 30 years, Jewell spent two two-year-long terms in Administrative Segregation. In Ad Seg, he would spend 23 hours a day in a 5x9 foot cell alone, allowed only a 20 minute shower and one hour of exercise in a cage. The first term was a result of his leading a work stoppage at Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, in support of the Texas civil rights case Ruiz v. Estelle, which ultimately led federal courts to rule that the conditions in the Texas prison system violated 8th Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. His second term in solitary confinement was the result of an escape attempt at Ferguson Unit in Madison County. Since his parole, he has found that life after prison is not easy. "Hell, with my criminal history, I couldn't get a job as a speed bump at Kroger's," he writes. "If it were not for a loving wife with enough fixed income to support the both of us, no doubt I would have recidivated for something akin to throwing a brick through a bank window." Jewell has become active in prison reform with Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), Amnesty International, the Texas Inmate Family Association, and the ACLU of Texas. With his wife, Joan, he founded Con-Care Services, which assists Texas inmates with problems prisoners routinely face, including visitation issues and appealing disciplinary cases. "We don't move mountains but we kick the shit out of molehills," --Sal Rodriguez I served 40 consecutive years on a life sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections, from 1970 to 2010. My first 3 years were on death row, which is much like Administrative Segregation and Solitary Confinement (S.C). I also did time in Ad Seg on two separate occasions, staying over two years each time. During that time I was confined to a 5 x 9 foot cell for 23 hours per day. I was allowed a 20 minute shower and an hour for outside recreation in a cage made of cyclone fencing, which resembled a cage you’d see at the dog pound. The cage measured about 10 x 10 square feet. S.C. is a form of sensory deprivation, in that your perception shrinks to the dimensions of the space and sensations of confinement. Visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and even the sense of taste are dramatically deprived and constricted. Almost immediately upon being tossed into isolation, though many people may not recognize it for what it is, you begin to suffer from a form of “sensory withdrawal.” Soon, you begin to crave the broader liberty you’ve lost, even the limited freedom of a prison’s environment: the ability to move about and interact with other human beings. Such a radical deprivation of sensory perceptions has a ‘numbing’ effect. You feel ‘stunned.’ Removed from the distractions and diversions of the broader context, the mind is suddenly forced to confront itself. You begin to hear yourself think. When the mind is withdrawn from the experience of ‘perceiving’ and interacting with the complex activities of the broader environment, it is forced to switch to perceptions from within itself and draw upon self-consciousness, as well as the subconscious. Sudden subjection to S.C. is a painful and dreaded experience. Because it is human nature to seek pleasure and avoid pain, we have a tendency to withdraw from the physical and take refuge into the psychological. Different people will have different reactions to this phenomenon. But most will indulge in various memories and forms of ‘fancy.’ Alongside memories of good times come those of sad and bad times. It is my opinion that all prisoners, deep inside, have a poor self-image. In S.C. that fact becomes acutely self-evident, or at least it did in my case. I suffered profound feelings of guilt and shame for past actions and inactions. Hot on the heels of regret come recrimination. Again, it is our nature to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. We tend to escape from over-awareness of our faults and foibles by turning to ‘fancy.’ Over time: days, weeks, months, and years, imagination can verge on, and in many cases, into, hallucination. The next stage is often psychosis and irreparable psychological damage. Resech has shown an irrefutable link between S.C. and mental deterioration: http://solitarywatch.com/2013/02/16/voices-from-solitary-what-solitary-confinement-does-to-the-mind/

Prison Abuse,Police Shootings,Curruption And Big Settlements

May 30, 2012 Suit Alleges Placer County Sheriff's Deputy Shot Man In Back As He Ran Away "A man who admits he stole seven lottery tickets claims Placer County Sheriff's Deputy Van Bogardus shot him three times in the back as he ran away, in Superior Court." Pautov v. Placer County Civil Complaint, 5/25/12, No. 12-cv-1424-KJM. Courthouse News, 5/29/12 ------------------------------------------- Sacramento County Cuts Funding On Inmate Rehabilitation Sacramento County officials voted unanimously Thursday to further reduce spending on rehabilitation for inmates sentenced under a new state law. The Community Corrections Partnership amended the Sheriff Department's budget for the fiscal year by reducing expenditures for inmate services from $500,000 to $122,000 and put the difference toward jail costs. The shift further tilts the county's budget for handling new offenders from the state toward incarceration instead of rehabilitation. Sacramento Bee, 5/4/12 ---------------------------------------- Sacramento County Pays $150,000 To Settle Jail Lawsuit Even though he was a regular, Marvin Orr was never able to get a bottom bunk when he checked into the Sacramento County Main Jail. Now, it has wound up costing the taxpayers $150,000 to make his federal lawsuit against the county go away. According to the legal action, Orr suffers from arthritis and attendant joint problems so severe that he gets disability benefits, uses a cane to ambulate and is on a variety of pain medicines and other medications. At the time of the incident, his degenerating hips needed to be replaced, and he was a diabetic taking medicine to hold off seizures. He checked into the jail on Dec. 8, 2008, and took a spill from his upper bunk that same day, causing head injuries and loss of consciousness for a time. A jail special-needs form dated the next day reiterated the importance of a lower bunk and tier, and noted that Orr had to have a cane to get around and a wheelchair for transportation to court. But the system is entrenched, so he remained on a top bunk, and less than a week later took the header that broke his leg and led to the lawsuit. This time he hit his head on the metal toilet. Rather than immediately taking Orr to the hospital for proper evaluation and treatment, he was instead propped up in a wheelchair, the suit alleges. He spent several days in the wheelchair in the so-called medical wing sitting in his own waste. His frequent pleas for urgent medical attention were ignored. After other inmates and at least one correctional officer aggressively lobbied for action, Orr was transported on Dec. 16 to the UC Davis Medical Center, where he had surgery on his broken leg and remained for 10 days. Planned hip replacement surgery had to be postponed. After Orr fell last month while climbing the stairs to his cell on an upper tier, his attorney, Stewart Katz, says he spoke to a ranking Sheriff's Department officer at the jail, to the county counsel's office, and the county's outside litigation counsel in an effort to assure Orr a bottom bunk and lower tier. After Katz spoke to a jail watch commander, Orr was moved to a lower tier, but nothing else changed, the attorney said. His client occupied a top bunk during his stay last month, even as the county was cutting a $150,000 check. --------------------------------------------------------- March 31, 2012 Is Real Change Coming To California's Use Of Long-Term Solitary Confinement? Today's New York Times has a piece about potential changes to California's policy of using long-term solitary confinement in prisons to isolate suspected gang members: Ernesto Lira is not a murderer. He has never participated in a prison riot. The crime that landed him behind bars was carrying three foil-wrapped grams of methamphetamine in his car. But on the basis of evidence that a federal court later deemed unreliable, prison officials labeled Mr. Lira a gang member and sent him to the super-maximum-security unit at Pelican Bay State Prison, the state’s toughest correctional institution. There, for eight years, he spent 23 or more hours a day in a windowless 7.6-by-11.6-foot cell, allowed out for showers and exercise. His view through the perforated steel door — there were 2,220 holes; he counted them — was a blank wall, his companions a family of spiders that he watched grow, “season by season, year by year.” Mr. Lira insisted that he was not a gang member, to no avail. He was eventually vindicated and is now out of prison, but he still struggles with the legacy of his solitary confinement. He suffers from depression and avoids crowds. At night, he puts blankets over the windows to block out any light. “He’s not the same person at all,” said his sister Luzie Harville. “Whatever happened, the experience he had in there changed him.” California has for decades used long-term segregation to combat gang violence in its prisons — a model also used by states like Arizona with significant gang problems. Thousands of inmates said to have gang ties have been sent to units like that at Pelican Bay, where they remain for years, or in some cases decades. But California corrections officials — prodded by two hunger strikes by inmates at Pelican Bay last year and the advice of national prison experts — this month proposed changes in the state’s gang policy that could decrease the number of inmates in isolation. Depending on how aggressively California moves forward — critics say that the changes do not go far enough and have enough loopholes that they may have little effect — it could join a small but increasing number of states that are rethinking the use of long-term solitary confinement, a practice that had become common in this country over the past three decades. ----------------------- Aug, 03, 2012 Women In Alleged Assault By Modesto Officer Files Claim An attorney has filed a claim against the city seeking $4 million in damages for the woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a Modesto police officer in January. The tort claim filed last week says the Jan. 5 incident caused the woman to suffer bodily injury and extreme emotional distress, and that the victim is entitled to damages for economic and noneconomic losses. This type of action typically is a forerunner to a lawsuit. Modesto City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood confirmed the claim was received at City Hall on Wednesday. "We are reviewing it and will proceed accordingly," she said, declining further comment. Fresno attorney Jacob Rivas, who specializes in civil rights cases, filed the claim against former officer Lee Freddie Gaines II, the Police Department and the city. He said he is seeking multimillion dollars in damages because of the severity of the claimed offense against his client. As you can imagine, when you have a sexual assault, it takes a heavy toll on the victim emotionally and physically," Rivas said. City officials have 45 days to decide whether to accept or reject the claim. If it's rejected, Rivas said he expects to bring a lawsuit on behalf of his client, most likely in federal court. Modesto Bee, 4/2/12; Claim for Damages. -------------------------------------------------- Sacramento County Pays $75,000 To Settle Jail Beating Lawsuit For full story with photos and video, see Denny Walsh's story in the Sacramento Bee, 8/12/12.

Kan. women's prison violates inmates' rights Inmates Were Being Sexually Abused

Feds: Kan. women's prison violates inmates' rights
If Kansas officials don't take remedial action in less than 50 days to address Eighth Amendment violations at the prison, the Justice Department issued notice of intent to file a federal lawsuit to compel reform

Inappropriate sexual behavior goes unreported due to flawed TCF staffing and supervision, a heightened fear of retaliation, a dysfunctional grievance system and weak investigative processes.

Barry Grissom, U.S. attorney for Kansas, said the federal prosecutor's office stood ready to work with state government officials to resolve glaring problems outlined by the department's investigators.

"The report has identified a very serious and troubling situation at the facility," Grissom said. "Action needs to be taken immediately."

Since 2001, TCF has served as the lone state prison for women in Kansas. On average, more than 500 women ranging from work-release to maximum-security inmates are housed there.

The Capital-Journal's sex-abuse stories in 2009 detailed problems at the prison with impropriety among inmates and corrections officers, including a plumbing instructor charged with rape after an inmate became pregnant.

The stories described how inmates were driven in state vehicles by a corrections officer to a Topeka cemetery or other remote areas and forced to engage in sexual conduct. In June, Brownback and top legislators approved payment of $30,000 in state funding to a former inmate involved in these assaults.

Other stories in The Capital-Journal documented use by the state corrections department of inmate labor in abatement of cancer-causing asbestos from TCF buildings. The state was reprimanded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2010, the National Institute of Corrections and the Kansas Legislative Post Audit Committee issued reports stipulating dangers faced by TCF prisoners in regard to sexual abuse. The 2010 Legislature amended Kansas law to increase the penalty for unlawful sexual relations between prison staff members and inmates. TCF's warden at that time was removed from his job.

Roberts, hired by Brownback as secretary of the Department of Corrections in 2011, vowed to correct inadequacies at TCF by installing more cameras at the prison and improving training standards.
However, the Justice Department said findings of their investigation "mirror those found" two years ago by NIC and Kansas auditors.

Federal officials concluded TCF failed to employ routinely accepted correctional practices, including gender-responsive training of the staff. TCF had no early-warning system to identify problem employees or a method of tracking potential misconduct, the Justice Department said.
By Tim Carpenter
The Capitol-Journal

TOPEKA, Kan. — An investigation by the U.S. Justice Department made public Thursday contained findings of rampant, widespread sexual abuse at Topeka Correctional Facility among state employees and inmates in violation of the constitutional rights of women incarcerated at the facility.

The Justice Department's report to Gov. Sam Brownback declared Kansas Department of Corrections officials "still have not acted" to correct "repeatedly documented" misconduct and "grossly deficient systemic practices" at TCF despite a series of stories in The Topeka Capital-Journal in 2009 and two independent audits in 2010 pointing to employee-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse.

Daycare worker admits abusing 23 kids

Prosecutors: Daycare worker admits abusing 23 kids
Joshua Ritchie is charged with lewd conduct with a child and is being held on $2.5 million bond


Associated Press

NAMPA, Idaho — Prosecutors say a 23-year-old daycare worker in Idaho has confessed to sexually abusing 23 children.

Joshua Ritchie is charged with lewd conduct with a child and is being held on $2.5 million bond.

Ritchie was arrested Aug. 21 after a 5-year-old boy reportedly told his parents that he was sexually abused.

Ritchie worked at Cornerstone Childcare in Nampa about 20 miles outside of Boise and was also a kitchen staff substitute for the Nampa School District and at the Idaho Arts Charter School.

Prosecutors told Judge Brian Lee during a hearing Wednesday that Ritchie told investigators he's sexually abused 23 kids between the ages of 5 and 12.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ritchie's attorney, public defender Bill Schwartz, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press

http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/5956661-Prosecutors-Daycare-worker-admits-abusing-23-kids/

Robert Leone Brutally Beaten By Pennsylvania State Police

Robert Leone Brutally Beaten By Pennsylvania State Police: ...
A handful of Pennsylvania State officers are under fire this month as attorneys review video ...
07/05/2012 2:46 pm Updated: 07/05/2012 6:36 pm ... family believes authorities want to keep their
son imprisoned for the .... I mean they made it way too difficult for prisoners to complain about ...


www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/robert-leone_n_1651829.html
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Oregon's prison for women accused of failing to stop inmate abuse

Oregon's prison for women accused of failing to stop inmate abuse
Published: Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 3:13 PM


SALEM -- A lawsuit accuses Oregon's prison for women of failing to stop the sexual abuse of an inmate during a period when the state was paying $1.2 million to settle the sexual abuse claims of 17 current and former inmates.

The suit alleges two male employees targeted an inmate at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility from 2008 to 2012, the Salem Statesman Journal reported Tuesday. It claimed the abuse included orders to perform oral sex, kissing and groping her, and watching her shower.

One employee in the lawsuit, 38-year-old Shawn Jacob Riley, was arrested in April and charged with official misconduct and custodial sexual misconduct. The second employee is a corrections officer only named as Mr. Jacques.

The lawyer who filed the suit last week, Brian Lathen of Salem, said the first name isn't known.

Riley, a maintenance worker, was the second physical plant employee at the Wilsonville prison to be arrested this year and charged with sexual misconduct with an inmate.

Department of Corrections officials said steps have been taken to prevent such abuse. Each of the department's facilities now has a sexual assault response team, as well as a hotline number that inmates or their families can use to report abuse, said agency spokeswoman Anita Nelson.

Lathen, who represented many of the 17 earlier victims, said that has not been enough to stop the abuse.

"When I heard these new incidents were fairly recent, I was really surprised, because they were swearing up and down that they had made changes so it wouldn't happen again," he said.

-- The Associated Press

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/06/oregons_prison_for_women_accus.html?fb_action_ids=381005958631748&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=246965925417366

County Admits To Abuse While Kids Were In Lock-Up

Government admits to child abuse in Secure Centers
By Paul Sullivan, from insidetime issue August 2011

Whenever the Government tries to conceal a document it is most likely that it contains information that would be ‘embarrassing’ rather than a security threat; and never more so than the manual detailing the institutionalised abuse of children in privatised secure accommodation which has just been prised from the Government’s grasp.



It is no wonder it took 5 years to force the Government’s hand when it contains what Phillip Noyes, of the NSPCC, called ‘shocking revelations graphically illustrating the cruel and degrading violence inflicted on children in custody’. Behaviour which would see a parent prosecuted and their children removed.

The Government fought to the end to keep it secret; even after the Information Commissioner said that public interest was so grave the document should be released.

It is hard to imagine a situation, in a juvenile centre, so serious that it would warrant the violence sanctioned by the report. The Ministry of Justice say, ‘staff need to be able to intervene effectively, to protect the safety of all involved.”

What many people who have witnessed the prison system at first hand could point out is that most ‘interventions’ are not about ensuring safety but more about graphically demonstrating who has the power and who is in control. ‘Control’ is an overused word in the prison industry. There are very few situations where immediate or violent action is required because, by the very nature of the establishments, every door has a lock.

The population of the juvenile estate are legally children and one would expect them to behave like children with the outbursts and tantrums that are part of being a child. We have long been told that being truculent and rebellious is a part of adolescence that is important to the healthy maturity to adulthood.

In most cases, de-escalation of an incident can be achieved either by withdrawing or by counselling. This may be a good use of female staff, who are not seen as a threat and can use gentle reason to achieve the desired outcome.

If a prisoner, juvenile or adult, is smashing their cell; most of the damage is to their own property - there is very little damage that can Government admits to child abuse in Secure Centres actually be done to prison property other than a smashed TV. Rather than a testosterone drunk riot squad, with shields, smashing their way in, it would be more sensible to quietly observe until the person has calmed down; and then someone who the person trusts goes in for a chat.

That word ‘trust’ is important. How could anyone trust a group of people who abuse them. Trust is the thing that feeds compliance and rehabilitation, and trust is one of the most powerful tools in de-escalation but is also the easiest thing to lose. Violence to achieve power and compliance actually achieves nothing but hatred and distrust. You only have to look at wartime resistance movements to see that forcefully demonstrating power achieves nothing except, sometimes, a more determined opposition.

There are very rare occasions when intervention might be critical; in the case of immediate self-harm or a violent attack on another person but in a juvenile centre where the staff bulk, strength and training outweighs the residents manyfold there should never be a need to resort to the violence described in the report. Such violence demonstrates failure and anarchy.

Because these are ‘closed’ establishments nobody sees what goes on; they are surrounded with secrecy. After 14 year-old Adam Rickward hanged himself at Hassockfield Secure Training Centre it was revealed that, shortly before his death, he had been restrained using ‘unlawful force’: yet nobody has been held to account.

Assuming these staff are adults, and possibly fathers, it is hard to imagine how they justify to themselves the violence they inflict on the children.

Custody staff are trained not to see prisoners as individual people and this can cause the weaker ones, who may have been bullied as a child, to use force and ‘power’ to counter their own feelings of weakness and guilt. Once again, a better system of staff recruitment, better training, and absolute supervision by people who are held to account is long overdue.

It’s a sad day when the state has to admit to institutionalised violence against the vulnerable people in their custody; sadder still, possibly, because this violence is contracted out to private companies to make profit for their shareholders. How do those shareholders now view their holdings in these companies?

Paul Sullivan was formerly resident at HMP Wakefield.