solitary confinement
NC computerized prison mail system is both cruel and a rip-off
I’ve been doing life in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) for almost 22 years. In 2021, the NCDAC made my life worse by contracting TextBehind to remotely scan and print our mail, supposedly to thwart synthetic drug smuggling, although it is widely accepted that prison employees are the main source of contraband. […]
A better way to run prisons
In recent years, the global conversation surrounding the purpose and effectiveness of prisons has undergone a significant shift. Rather than focusing solely on punishment and isolation, countries like Germany and Norway have pioneered a more therapeutic approach to incarceration. By prioritizing restoration, human dignity, substance use, and mental health treatment, as well as practicing the […]
‘It has ruined me.’ Listening session offers glimpse into solitary confinement
People who survived solitary imprisonment talk about its lingering effects on the mind, and call for reform Solitary confinement broke John Howell. Stuck in a prison cell, he lost touch with his family, the outside world and eventually, reality. “You sit there in that box,” he said, “and you slowly lose your mind.”
Howell isn’t locked in a cell anymore, but in a way he's still imprisoned.
State data: These factors are correlated with a person’s likelihood of being arrested or imprisoned again
A new study from the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission found higher rearrest rates among formerly incarcerated people who were in solitary confinement or in a high security risk classification when they were released from prison. Just under half of the 16,340 people released from prison in the 2019 Fiscal Year were rearrested […]
Ishee confirmed to head Department of Adult Correction
State senators unanimously confirmed Todd Ishee on Tuesday to head the Department of Adult Correction, an enormous new agency with a 40% staff vacancy rate responsible for overseeing the 115,00 people in state prisons or on probation or parole. Ishee previously headed the prison system when it was under the umbrella of the Department of […]
‘The End of Isolation Tour’ and the push to end solitary confinement in North Carolina prisons
How three performances of a play relate to efforts to end solitary in North Carolina It’s the sound of jangling keys that reminds Craig Waleed of his time in solitary confinement. “That brings me back to being in there and hearing the keys jingle next to the cell door, thinking, ‘OK then, they’ll let me out. Today's the day I get out,’” Waleed said.
“It is meant to break your spirit”: Groups call for end to solitary confinement in NC prisons
Kerwin Pittman spent a total of 1,000 days alone, living in a drab prison cell the size of a small bathroom. He slept on a slab. His sink was connected to the toilet and lacked hot water. When Pittman was allowed to leave his cell to go outside – an hour per day – he […]
New prisons study confirms harmful impacts of solitary confinement, value of mental health treatment and care
Advocates call for appropriations to fund essential reforms In some ways, it seems kind of silly that we even had to conduct a study to confirm something so obvious, but in the modern world in which so many basic facts underlying public policy are constantly up for debate, new research conducted by the state prison […]
North Carolina is torturing thousands of prisoners. It needs to stop.
The cruel reality of solitary confinement ought to shock all caring and thinking people One night in January of 2014, two prison guards at the Colorado State Penitentiary walked a man in handcuffs and an inmate’s uniform down the prison hallway and deposited him in a solitary cell designated "R.F.P. Ad. Seg.: Administrative Segregation, Removed from Population. Solitary confinement."
ACLU of NC asks court to declare solitary confinement unconstitutional
North Carolina inmates in solitary confinement are kept in cells that are no bigger than a parking space for 22 to 24 hours a day with little to no human contact. If they were healthy before being confined to such extreme punishment, they often get sick, and if they were unhealthy, it exacerbates their situation. […]