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Torture in American prisons
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Solitary Confinement . . .By George Swanson
Left click to advance.
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Solitary Confinement . . .
Is it torture?
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Torture
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. . . any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person . . . .
– U.N. Convention Against Torture, Article 1.1
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physical
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physical
and
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physical
and
mental
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Some Physical Torture
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Some Physical Torture
A swat team cuts the orange jump suit off an inmate in handcuffs and leg irons. He keeps screaming as they carry him naked through the Maine supermax.
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Some Physical Torture
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Some Physical Torture
Black helmeted officers strap the inmate in a restraint chair. He continues to scream as one officer holds his head and Maces him in the face.
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Some Physical Torture
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Some Physical Torture
Charles Graner Charles Graner cocks his fist cocks his fist above Iraqi above Iraqi prisoners in prisoners in Abu GhraibAbu Ghraib
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Some Physical Torture
He may have learned torture working in a Pennsylvania supermax.
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Some Physical Torture
We sentenced him to 10 years
in Leavenworth
for doing what we trained him to do.
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Mostly Mental Torture
Isolation is the worst thing we do to people.
� � Washington State Prison Official
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Mostly Mental Torture
Solitary confinement left prisoners in a semi-fatuous condition.
� U.S. Supreme Court, 1890
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Mostly Mental Torture
16 to 19 year olds became like Zombies.
� N.Y. State Supermax Chaplain
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Mostly Mental Torture
Solitary confinement is dehumanizing.
� Lorna Rhodes, Anthropologist
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Eastern State Prison, Philadelphia, 1822Solitary Confinement
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Charles Dickens saw it and wrote:Charles Dickens saw it and wrote:
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I hold this slow and daily tampering I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain, to be with the mysteries of the brain, to be immeasurably worse than any torture immeasurably worse than any torture of the body.of the body.
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And because its ghastly signs and And because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh . . .upon the flesh . . .
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. . . because its wounds are not . . . because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few upon the surface, and it extorts few
cries that human ears can hear . . . cries that human ears can hear . . .
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. . . therefore I the more denounce . . . therefore I the more denounce it, as a secret punishment which it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay. roused up to stay.
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Solitary Confinement23 Hours a Day
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An inmate looks at the photographer through the slotwhere he gets his food and where he is handcuffed.
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Solitary Confinement de Tocqueville visited American prisons in 1833
He wrote:He wrote:
• We saw the evil effect of solitude.We saw the evil effect of solitude.
• This system, fatal to the health of the This system, fatal to the health of the criminals, was likewise inefficient in criminals, was likewise inefficient in producing their reform.producing their reform.
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A Solitary Confinement Cell
1. 7 feet by 12 feet with small slit window opening on sky and prison wall. No grass or trees in sight.
2. Shower works on timer.
3. Small B/W TV for educational programs, some prisoners only.
BBC web Site Drawing
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A Solitary Confinement Cell
4. Heavy steel door or grate with small slot for handcuffing or food. Slot may be coated with dried blood, feces and urine.
5. Writing desk. 6. Toilet which shuts off if blocked.7. Sink. 8. Steel mirror, not smashable glass.BBC web site drawing
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U.S. Supreme Court 1890
• Solitary confinement left prisoners in a semi-Solitary confinement left prisoners in a semi-fatuous condition.fatuous condition.
• The justices saw it as a form of what some The justices saw it as a form of what some people now call no-touch torture. people now call no-touch torture.
� � History Professor Alfred W. McCoyUniversity of Wisconsin at Madison
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A Typical CellIn the federal supermax prison in Florence, ColoradoIn the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado
A solitary confinement prison is called a “supermax.”
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California’s Pelican Bay Supermax
The X-shaped prison holds 1,300 inmates in solitary. The X-shaped prison holds 1,300 inmates in solitary.
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California’s Pelican Bay Supermax
A naked inmate spreads his toes & buttocks. He is handcuffed A naked inmate spreads his toes & buttocks. He is handcuffed through the cuff and food slot before leaving his cell.through the cuff and food slot before leaving his cell.
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Solitary Confinement
Belongs withBelongs with– The rackThe rack– The thumbscrewThe thumbscrew– The wheelThe wheel– Protracted questioning & cross questioningProtracted questioning & cross questioning– And other ingenious forms of entrapment And other ingenious forms of entrapment � U.S. Supreme Court 1940
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Solitary disrupts profoundly the sense of the personality.
� � The U.S. Senate 1994The U.S. Senate 1994
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The Federal Supermax 400 prisoners in solitary confinement
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Internationally honored criminologist Hans Toch
says . . .
A supermax . . .
Impairs the mental health of prisoners.
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Hans TochWorld Acclaimed Criminologist Says,
A supermax . . .
Is a gulag.
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Hans TochWorld Acclaimed Criminologist Says,
A supermax . . .
Is reminiscent of traditional inquisitory tribunals.
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Hans TochWorld Acclaimed Criminologist Says,
In a supermax . . .
Officers and prisoners are situationally dehumanized.
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Hans TochWorld Acclaimed Criminologist Says,
In a supermax . . .
Youthful prisoners regressed into something less than human.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State supermax chaplain
He saw 16-to-19-year-old inmates.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State Supermax Chaplain
He says,
The light went out in their eyes.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State Supermax Chaplain
He says,
They became like zombies.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State Supermax Chaplain
He says,
I’d talk to them through the food slot,
and all I got backwas a blank stare.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State Supermax Chaplain
He says,
I spent a lot of time trying to console scared kids who cried and cried.
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Father Joseph Romano NY State Supermax Chaplain
He says,
The supermax is only about punishment and breaking down these guys.
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Solitary Confinement
Maine keeps 100 prisoners in solitary confinement.That’s more than in the whole country of England
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
It is torture.
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
It is isolation – sometimes for years.
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
23 hours a day in a tiny cell.
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
It is sensory deprivation.
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
Some prisoners howl in constant agony.
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Lance TapleyJournalist in Augusta writes about Maine’s supermax . . .
Inadequate food is shoved through an unsanitary slot in the door.
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Anthropologist Lorna Rhodes had free access to the Washington State supermax for ten years.
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“A truly remarkable
book. The inside look at supermax confinement alone is worth the price of admission. This is meticulous scholarship.”
� Hans Toch, criminologist
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As a result of this book Washington State is considering changes to its whole prison system.
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Rhodes writes:
Solitary confinement is dehumanizing.
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Rhodes writes:
Disturbed mental states are addressedby imposing conditions that furtherdisturb the mind.
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Rhodes writes:
One officer opens the cuffport and stands carefully to one side while the other, who is dressed in a waterproof jumpsuit, quickly pushes in the food tray. Sometimes inmates stab them through the opening or hurl feces or urine at them.
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Rhodes listened:
It builds you into a monster because it hardens your feelings. � Inmate
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Rhodes listened:
On the third day I started going wall to wall, banging myself. � Inmate
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Rhodes listened:
I’m like Cerberus at the gates of hell.� Psychiatrist who screens new inmates
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Rhodes listened:
I just went off, spitting, urinating…. If they feel like I’m gonna be a badass,
why not? � Inmate
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Rhodes listened:
Isolation is the worst thing we do to people./ Washington State Prison Official
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• Alcatraz prison was closed in 1963250 inmates
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• Alcatraz prison was closed in 1963250 inmates
• Marion Illinois supermax took its place500 inmates
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• Alcatraz prison was closed in 1963250 inmates
• Marion Illinois supermax took its place500 inmates
• We’re building more supermaxes50,000 inmates in solitary and growing
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Alcatraz – you could talk to somebody
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Supermax – you’re all by yourself
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Supermax PrisonsTime Magazine, January 2007
Cell resembles nothing so much as a large, concrete closet.
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Supermax PrisonsTime Magazine, January 2007
Majority of Texas and California inmate suicides occur in solitary.
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Supermax PrisonsTime Magazine, January 2007
Prisoners' brain waves shift toward a pattern characteristic of stupor and delirium.
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Supermax PrisonsTime Magazine, January 2007
Within 48 hours the breakdown is even worse when sensory deprivation is added.
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Supermax PrisonsTime Magazine, January 2007
Demolish their psyches while they're in prison, and nobody's safer when they get out.
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Time Quotes Harvard PsychiatristStuart Grassian
We have to ask ourselves why we're doing this.
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Time Quotes Harvard PsychiatristStuart Grassian
These aren't a bunch of cold, controlled James Cagneys.
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Time Quotes Harvard PsychiatristStuart Grassian
We're taking criminals who are already unstable and driving them crazy.
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Dr. George HunsingerProfessor, Princeton Theological Seminary
Solitary traumatizes people for life.
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Torture
. . . . . . any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person . . . .
– U.N. Convention Against Torture, Article 1.1
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! Fatal to health” – de Tocqueville
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! Shatters the mind” – U.S. Supreme Court
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! It is a gulag.” – Hans Toch
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! Dehumanizing.” – Lorna Rhodes
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! We’re driving them crazy.”
– Stuart Grassian
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! Kids become zombies.”
– Father Joseph Romano
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! Some howl in constant agony.”
– Lance Tapley
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• “Yes! It disrupts personality.”
– U.S. Senate
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The jury votes:
Is solitary confinement torture?
• The foreman asks us.
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How do you vote?
Is solitary confinement torture?
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If it is . . .
• Write President Obama that we should not torture prisoners in American prisons.
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If it is . . .
• Write the National Institute of Corrections to prohibit torture in corrections.
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If it is . . .
• Ask the governor to close the state supermax.
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If it is . . .
• Send a copy of your letter to the newspapers.
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If it is . . .
• Schedule a program on prisons for your library, school, church, whatever.
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If it is . . .
• Ask our state & federal representatives not to spend our taxes on supermax torture.
• Send a copy to the newspapers.
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If it is . . .
Decide howyou’ll. . .
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Speak your
mind.
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