Photo Requests from Solitary
photorequestsfromsolitary.org
photorequestsfromsolitary.org
> wild, natural countryside in Donegal, Ireland, where my grandparents are from
> Hello- I am writing because I heard about your photo program. I am in Pelican Bay SHU Short Corridor. I’ve been held in isolative conditions for 17 years. The image I would like is of Northern Ireland. Specifically Donegal. Any image of the wild, natural country there in donegal would be cherished. My grandparents and great grandparents are from there. Their stories of the place remain forever entrenched in my imagination and minds eye. I never took the time to seek out images of that far away land but, since being buried in SHU, I have longed to see it. I once had a dream of Donegal in which I was walking, barefoot, across the grass. I could literally feel the cool blades between my toes. As I woke, in my windowless cell, I felt a palpable sense of loss. It felt like I was underwater and drowning. In the waking moment I realized I’d be wading through time for the rest of my life. So, my request to you is for an image or photo of this beautiful land that haunts my dreams. I also want to thank you for your innovation. You’ve given choice to men who have lost the ability to choose. So thank you... With Respect, Patrick
http://photorequestsfromsolitary.org/84-2/
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Doesn’t the govt have a duty to protect other inmates?
It can serve absolutely no punitive or reformatory purpose. It is of zero value as a means to compensation. Whether it is useful as a deterrent is unclear, but also immaterial.
The only purpose I can imagine is for the public to witness the misfortune of fellow citizens. A modern day public execution.
I am not hopeful that things will get better in the foreseeable future. I can only hope that our children judge us harshly.
17 years in isolation.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/07/17/california-pri...
I will say that it's easy for us to be sympathetic, when we see their "human" side, but that sympathy dries up, real quick, when we are victims.
I have worked with both perpetrators and victims (often, the same person).
It's pretty heart-wrenching. There's no practical solutions on the table. It's pretty difficult to get folks behind efforts to reform things.
In the US, a felony rap is a "scarlet letter" that follows people throughout their entire life, destroying any real chance at true reform. Pretty much guaranteed recidivism. Dishonorable military discharges are another one.
I have heard that the UK has a system that "shelves" criminal records after a certain number of years, and only employment in certain fields (like law enforcement, childcare, etc.) can view the records.
This is true but it depends on how long the sentence was as after a 4 year sentence you always have to tell an employer about the conviction. It's better than nothing as petty crime shouldn't have serious long term employment consequences but it seems like it doesn't do much for the people that might need it most.
It does seem to be more liberal than the US. I suspect that the vast majority of offenders in either nation spend less than 4 years in jail, so that's not a bad thing.
I wonder if offenses committed before the rehab period is over are added to previous periods, or if the "clock is reset."
In the US, we also have the "3-time loser" sentencing in many states, which can make a third conviction into a life sentence.
> I’ve been held in isolative conditions for 17 years
How can this be legal, beneficial for anyone or even possible for other humans to execute on? One would think that prisons should at least pretend to try to make people better than just isolating them until they die. And if not that, one would think that prisons would make a cost/benefit analysis and find out that people generally get more twisted from spending long time in isolation.
And if neither of those two are applied, one would think that someone along the chain would see "17 years of isolation" and act to fix that or refuse the order of continue to lock them up.
The prison world is truly fucked up, and it's not because of the prisoners.
"volunteers fighting to end solitary confinement, with symbols of freedom"
Akin to all the "happy" stories of people coming together to donate to someone's GoFundMe campaign for medical bills.
This is beyond fucked up. Arrested as a teenager, they've now spent more time alone in a windowless concrete cell than they did growing up. There's no information on what they did to warrant this, but there's a reason even murder sentences are (usually) less than 10 years in most European countries.
I'm not generally for death sentence, but I'd honestly change my view if the alternative to death sentence is being locked up in solitary for the rest of your life. Death in this case would be kinder. Best would be that none of those options exists.
I've read plenty of court cases and I'm still of the same opinion. Those people who commit those things are corrupted in some way, and need help. If your point is that they will never get better, the most human thing to do would be to execute them, rather than putting them in solitary. If there is a chance we can "fix" them, then I think we should aim for fixing them.
Solitary confinement is pure torture, I can't even imagine how it would be to spend 20 years under those dreadful circumstances. I generally love lots of things about the US (never been there, I must admit) but I find their incarceration policies scandalous.
So I'm saying this is not caused by some insitutional entity doing something, but rather, by many of them not doing certain things (usually to reduce cost).
My understanding is that some of the reasons might include:
- a privatised prison system - systemic racism - the % of US citizens in prisons being relatively high compared to the rest of what we call developed countries
Obv. all of these are intertwined and it’s a very complex issue.
I’m still struggling to understand how people in an advanced democracy like the US would allow for these things to happen. It seems like it’s considered the norm.
"There are a range of reasons someone can be placed in solitary confinement, including in response to violence or other serious security threats. However, the Vera Institute’s Segregation Reduction Project found 85 percent of prisoners were sent to disciplinary segregation for minor rule infractions in Illinois. Common violations included being out of place, failing to report to an assignment, and refusing an order." - https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/advocacy/conditio...
"Inmates have been sentenced to solitary for infractions such as refusing to cut their hair for religious reasons, or eating an apple incorrectly, which shows how broadly the offenses officially punishable with solitary confinement can be interpreted. The list of such offenses includes:
possessing any locking devices, including keys; failure to make the bed in military fashion; adulterating food; demonstrating martial arts; tattooing; circumventing mail monitoring procedures; indecent exposure; misuse of authorized medications; refusing work; failing to perform work as instructed by a supervisor; insolence towards a staff member; unauthorized contact with the public; being untidy; circulating a petition; feigning illness; using abusive or offensive language. Other reported common causes of solitary confinement are:
Possession of five dollars or more without authorization; participation in a strike; attempted suicide; failure to obey an order properly; “reckless eyeballing”; failure to return an ashtray; possession of an excess quantity of postage stamps."
- https://qz.com/480015/these-are-some-of-the-reasons-us-priso...
"Contrary to popular belief, solitary confinement is not reserved only for the most dangerous prisoners. Often it is imposed to isolate detainees during the pre-trial stage of investigation, including as part of coercive interrogation. Solitary confinement for pre-trial detainees has, for example, been part of Scandinavian prison practice for many years. It is also used to lock away prisoners with – or who are perceived to have – mental illnesses." -https://www.penalreform.org/issues/prison-conditions/key-fac...
> In general, people are sent to solitary not by a judge or jury, but solely at the discretion of prison staff. In many prisons and jails, solitary confinement has become a control strategy of first resort, although it has never been proven to reduce prison violence.
> Incarcerated men and women can be placed in complete isolation for months or years not only for violent acts, but for possessing contraband (including too many pencils or postage stamps), testing positive for drug use, ignoring orders, or using profanity. In some states, anyone who is believed to belong to a prison gang can be placed in solitary indefinitely. Other people end up in solitary because they have untreated mental illnesses, are children in need of “protection,” are LGBTQ, are people of color, are Muslim, have unpopular political beliefs, or report rape or abuse by prison officials.
What the fuckity fuck - how is this allowed to happen, in 2020, in a democracy, in a rich/western country? Especially one that loves to preach values of freedom/democracy/equality etc to other countries around the world? This is awful
But the US has built some massively harmful institutions and a way for folks to hide themselves from much guilt.
“America is a third world country with a gucci belt”
let us pray we wake up to the conditions we subject our fellow beings.
we suffer from historical amnesia.
our nation state is predicated on unspeakable catastrophies rendered unto indigenous peoples.
there are myriad realities we have yet to face and reconcile.
Passive voice is the self-answer.