Under the eighth amendment we as United States citizens are
guaranteed that we will not be subjected
to cruel and unusual punishment. The definitions of those ambiguous words
continue to be debated and defined through the legal process. Recently,
organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the
notion that solitary confinement constitutes a legal punishment.
In Illinois, these arguments garnered some attention with
the closure of Tamms Correctional Center in Southern Illinois. Pat Quinn is
closing several correctional institutions around the state, one of which is the
Tamms supermax. If you are not aware, Tamms Correctional Center houses some of Illinois’
most dangerous criminals. Because it is a supermax prison, prisoners are held
in small cells for 23 hours a day with no social exposure besides limited
interactions with prison staff. While unions are objecting to the closure
Tamms, relatives of the inmates are saying that it is time for the prison to be
closed for good. The allege that the way prisoners are being treated is
inhuman.
If you took Dr. Gizzi’s corrections or 101 class, he always
does a presentation on the correctional center. It is easy to see from that
information that he presents that Tamms can and will make those housed there go
crazy. Imagine being locked in a bathroom for all but one hour each day where
you are unable to communicate with others. To me, something seems inherently
wrong with that approach to corrections. Still there are many arguments for the
use of solitary confinement style prisons. Proponents of supermax facilities
argue that they serve as deterrents, insure officer safety, and punish only the
most serious offenders. All of these things are true, however, these practical
reasons seem not to justify the methods used. Even though an offender may have
committed a heinous offense and poses a safety risk, it does not mean we should
sacrifice our morality in seeing that we are safe. Retribution can only be taken so far as a
correctional philosophy and these methods push those lines. Housing an inmate
at a supermax is expensive and may not be worth the cost. At Tamms, an inmate
costs over $50,000 a year.
In settings other than in a Supermax, solitary confinement
is a tactic used to isolate an inmate for discipline or for safety. However,
the ACLU alleges in the United States the practice is becoming too widespread.
Holding someone in solitary confinement poses a safety and health risk as well
because the inmate is likely to suffer psychological trauma from their
isolation. If an offender is released from that prison to society who has been
housed like an animal like those in a supermax, then they pose a long-term,
serious, threat to the public.
It is unconscionable that some have had to undergo solitary
confinement who have been wrongly convicted. Damien Echols of the West Memphis
Three had to face this isolation for 10 years for a crime he did not commit!
Sources
I have to agree and disagree with your blog. I think that in some cases, solitary confinement is not justified when some of the evidence can be pretty sketchy. Especially when someone if falsely imprisoned, that would be the most horrible and extreme situation. That in my mind, would be unjustified. I read a story a few years back about a young woman in her early twenties who was kidnapped, beaten, raped, tortured, then had her arms and legs sawed off by her attacker and left her in a field for her to die. After he left, she drug her limbless body to a highway where no car would stop for an hour thinking she was road kill. To me, this constitutes the maximum punishment and if not the electric chair, then solitary confinement. That disturbed man, was never found. I think solitary confinement should be left to the severely mentally sick criminals like it is now and be done with it. Maybe I'm a bit harsh or partial because I am a woman, but I think some of these criminals should get a lot less than sitting in a cell all day. If I had it my way, it would be an eye for an eye. I do realize saying that would mean that eventually someone who was actually innocent but convicted guilty would undoubtedly be falsely hurt, but I hope to have enough trust in the justice system that it wouldn't happen with crimes as heinous as these.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with this blog, but I also think that solitary confinement has it's uses. I agree that solitary confinement for a long period of time would probably drive someone insane, but that leaves unanswered the question of what to do with extremely violent offenders. I think that there are some offenders that have to be kept isolated because they pose a risk to the general population of the prison, and unfortunately this may make them even more crazy. I don't really think that there is a 'good' solution to this problem.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a place for solitary confinement. But I don't think that we need a separate facility to manage them. I think that we could get rid of TAMMS and just house the prisoners in a maximum security facility. After medium security the precautions are pretty redundant anyways.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know exactly how many prisoners who are held in solitary confinement for the most heinous crimes and actually get out of prison to return to society to live out the remainder of their life. I was always under the assumption that those in solitary confinement who have committed such heinous crimes typically do not get out of prison and spend the rest of their lives behind bars. In my opinion if you did the crime you do the time. Prison is not intended to be the Hilton. For those in solitary confinement I don't think rehabilitation is the common goal, it is clearly a form of punishment for a horrible crime. I am sure most of these prisoners who "go crazy" who claim it was because of solitary confinement, had previous mental issues before being put there anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the blog i do think that solitary confinement will make a person go absolutely crazy. I mean its inevitable when you spend every single day in a room with white walls and nothing to really stimulate your mind, bad things are bound to happen. I don't think that it is all bad, I do think that solitary confinement is good for some of our worst offenders. If they can do some of the worst crimes to innocent people then I believe that they deserve to be locked in a room with no interaction. As you can see in the picture provided in to blog the person sitting on the bed looks kind of crazy he has books that can keep him busy for so long then after that there is nothing else to do. Also it appears that there are little kids toys sitting on the floor by his bed which indicates that this man may have already gone a little crazy. It kind of creeps me out just looking at that and I know thats never how I would want to live my life.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your blog in the sense that I believe that some inmates deserve to be there. Inmates who have killed multiple people and are never leaving the walls of the prison should not enjoy their stay. They chose to commit the crimes that they did and should pay dearly for it. In many cases, people on death row can watch television and play games and get on the internet, but I think they should spend every waking moment possible alone in their cell.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that these prisons should be shut down. Quite frankly these inmates are the worst of the worst in IL so they should get the worst of the worst incarceration. I couldnt even imagine how miserable it would be living in those conditions but the bottom line is these people have done something serious to be put there so they cant be trusted in anything with less security. They have to protect staff first and inmates second.
ReplyDeleteJust like those above, i also agree with your stance on this blog. I have always been very disgusted by the crimes, but cannot see how 23 hours benefits anyone. I know that for inmates like that, they don't really care about rehabilitation due to the fact they will never be released, but it is still unhealthy. I do not think Tamms and other Supermax prisons need to be closed, as that creates an even bigger waste of money, but they could utilize the facility and just rather change their methods of operation!
ReplyDelete