Colorado’s decision to curtail the use of solitary confinement — which the state of Wisconsin has begun to do — offers lessons for the Badger State that its former prisons chief, Rick Raemisch, is uniquely positioned to offer.
Tag: Cruel and Unusual?
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin hunger strikers to take aim at long-term solitary confinement
About a dozen Wisconsin prisoners plan to launch a hunger strike beginning next week aimed at ending a form of indefinite solitary confinement that officials use to keep order in the institutions, according to an inmate advocacy group.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin joins national push to curb solitary confinement
Wisconsin has made a “culture shift” in its use of solitary confinement in prisons, eliminating it as punishment for minor rule infractions and cutting the time inmates spend in isolation for more serious offenses, Department of Corrections officials revealed in an interview granted as part of a legal settlement with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
President Obama: Solitary confinement ‘not smart’ and ‘not going to make us safer’
President Barack Obama called for reduction of solitary confinement during a July 14 address to the NAACP National Convention in Philadelphia: “I’ve asked my Attorney General to start a review of the overuse of solitary confinement across American prisons. “The social science shows that an environment like that is often more likely to make inmates […]
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Billionaire Charles Koch: ‘Reversing overcriminalization and mass incarceration will improve societal well-being’
In a Jan. 7 column for Politico Magazine, billionaire Charles Koch said the United States is paying a “heavy price” for leading the world in incarceration, driving a large number of people into poverty and harming the national economy. “Reversing overcriminalization and mass incarceration will improve societal well-being in many respects, most notably by decreasing […]
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Making friends with a fly: One man’s story of solitary confinement
Former inmate Talib Akbar says years spent in segregation in the Wisconsin prison system took a toll on his mind. Akbar now lives alone in a small RV that he parks around Madison while volunteering for Wisdom, a statewide faith-based group that campaigns against solitary confinement. The drawing Akbar made while confined in a cell […]
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
From ‘isolation panic’ to ‘social death’: Going crazy in solitary
Craig Haney is a University of California-Santa Cruz psychologist who for more than two decades has studied the effects of solitary confinement on inmates. During a 2013 interview for PBS’ Frontline program, Haney described what happens to people held under such deprivation. “Some prisoners react very negatively very quickly. They experience what has been termed […]
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin prison system revamps disciplinary rules
A state prison official called the new rules, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, “an excellent opportunity to focus on making positive changes” to the state’s use of solitary confinement.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Justice & Safety
Lawmakers want answers on abuse allegations at Waupun
Six Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers have written the state Department of Corrections demanding action regarding allegations of abuse of inmates by guards at Waupun Correctional Institution.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Justice & Safety
Faith-based state group seeks Waupun prison abuse probe
A statewide advocacy group on Tuesday asked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to investigate allegations that guards at Waupun Correctional Institution have abused inmates in the prison’s segregation unit dozens of times since 2011.
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety
How the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism investigated prison-abuse allegations
The DOC, citing security reasons, denied the Center’s requests to interview inmates and take photographs in the segregation unit at Waupun, or videotape an inmate at another facility. It redacted from the released records references to inmate injuries and the physical or mental health treatment they received. It categorically denied access to formal complaints filed by inmates against guards, although some released records do convey the inmates’ perspective. And it denied access to video recordings to various incidents, saying this would compromise security.