Chelsea Manning gets 14 days in solitary confinement for suicide attempt | Hacker News Reader

Chelsea Manning gets 14 days in solitary confinement for suicide attempt

theguardian.com

34 pointskafkaesq12 comments

8th amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment. This isn't so unusual anymore, though, so it's only cruel. I guess that's ok...?

Beatings will continue until morale improves.

This treatment is horrific. Solitary confinement is well known to cause severe depression and suicidal ideation.

For some, yes, but others have killed cellmates in order to be alone.

FWIW, I'd be terrified to share a cell. I certainly would not sleep well, and that would take a toll on me. The fear of injury or even death (see above) would prevent proper rest. Lack of sleep eventually causes hallucination and other severe mental problems.

Welcome to America.

Not enjoying prison? Let us show you what you're missing!

Commenters seems to not understand why solitary confinement is a standard action for suicide risks.

It's not about punishment (though Manning was also found with contraband in this case).

It's about the safety of the individual, and order for the rest of the inmates.

The inmate lives in a tightly controlled environment, and nobody sees a body swinging in the next cell over.

A 2004 study in Californian prisons found that 73% of suicides in incarceration happened in isolation cells, where less than 10% of the prison population of the state was being held. Separate research in New York City concluded that prisoners in solitary were seven times more likely to harm themselves than those in the general prison population.

For people with pre-existing mental vulnerabilities, solitary confinement can be close to torturous Ron Hornberg, National Alliance on Mental Illness “It is pretty well established that solitary confinement has a very detrimental effect on a person’s mental health and for people with pre-existing mental vulnerabilities it can be close to torturous,” said Ron Hornberg of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health advocacy group.*

“It’s a sure-fire way to worsen symptoms.”

Experts decry solitary confinement for Chelsea Manning after suicide attempt

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/24/chelsea-mann...

How would you recommend keeping someone under observation? With 100 other inmates?

This person shouldn't even be in jail.

Ah...I disagree, but that explains the other comments.

You seem to not understand that Chelsea Manning is a human first and an inmate second.

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