Solitary Confinement, the inhumanity of it?

The inhumanity of solitary confinement

For the past eighteen months or so, I have been reading intense stories, articles and speculative narratives about solitary confinement and its impact on imprisoned human beings. As a former deputy warden of such an “inhumane” Special Management Unit in the Arizona State Prison Complex Eyman in Florence, I was the chief administrator of this unit. During my term of assignment within this most restrictive tonnage of concrete blocks filled with rebar and steel gates, doors and windows, I observed what society declared to be the “worst of the worst” inside Arizona prisons. I was fortunate to have a team of excellent professionals to keep this assignment afloat and avoid minimum collateral damage while assigned there.

For an outsider to attempt to understand “solitary confinement” one must first step back and acknowledge that solitary confinement is a condition of confinement termed erroneously as men are not solitary in housing but rather segregated from general population prisoners for reasons we will discuss later on. In reality, this housing assignment is known as maximum custody or Level 5 in most prison agencies either state or federal.

It is true prisoners are locked alone inside their cells for about 22 – 23 hours a day. It is true their food is delivered through a food port designed for restraining the prisoner but serves a dual purpose of safely handing the food trays to the prisoner without the need to open the cell doors. The walls are unpainted concrete walls and their cells are windowless to allow no direct sunlight into their cells. 

In addition to being locked up alone, the Special Management Units have expanded their bed counts to allow double bunking in both units adding approximately 300 additional beds [at a taxpayer’s cost of approximately $234,000 dollars] to maximum custody housing. Double bunking maximum custody increase the rate of violence (gladiator wars inside the cells) and put more staff in danger because of the imminent threat of opening the cell doors with two prisoners inside them rather than just one.  

Assaults and use of force incident have increased and more staff are getting hurt today than ever before inside these darkened and hollow gladiator pits where it is a “us versus them” mentality that created the hostilities and mistrust in operations.

Today, many prison officials in Arizona are asking for $ 50 million dollars to expand this system even further. Expanding maximum custody while still engaged in a flawed method of managing those existing SMU facilities where death runs rampant and medical and mental health care is direly needed making it a recipe for total failure within time.

Their cells are approximately 80 square feet with a steel bed to sleep on. They have a combination stainless steel toiler, sink and shelve to put their personal hygiene items on and a faded small steel mirror to groom themselves. The steel inside these maximum custody cells are corroding and are in need of replaced steel plates as time is wearing down even the strongest metal designed for such a purpose.

This corrosion was mainly created through neglect and lack of preventive maintenance that doesn’t happen within such a dangerous place. One reason was the removal of essential maintenance staff and the other was lack of funding to conduct such repairs.  Thus it is suspect that the ventilation, sewer and electrical systems are also in dire need of maintenance but none such work will be done as there isn’t sufficient staff to take care of these things and the end result will be ignoring these problems until they hit critical mass and the systems shut down.

It has already been demonstrated more than once that the locking devices are failing and old and only a steel pin keeps the door from opening allowing the prisoner to escape his cell and attack an unaware officer walking his or her beat. 

One maximum custody prisoner managed to carve into to stainless steel sink combo [with a 14 inch steel sharpened weapon] and escape his cell through the wall into a mechanical room and attacked an officer from behind as he planned a hostage taking after making several statements he would kill a correctional officer if he had the opportunity to do so. His efforts took many weeks to complete thus was evidence or indicative of the lack of security rounds made due to his intentional hostilities towards staff and staff’s willingness to leave him alone and not check on him or his cell for the duration it took him to cut a hole in his maximum security wall and attacked an officer as a plan to take a hostage.

There is rare human contact through actual touching of skin or person. They are restrained in upper and lower mechanical restraints often referred to as shackles. Then, after being stripped searched, they are escorted in these chains to and from locations such as the infirmary, visitation [again non-contact and via window and phone] and other appointments [off-site medical or court appointments] it us usual for two officers to conduct such an escort if the prisoner has a history of assaultive behaviors or unwillingness to abide by institutional rules.

Maximum custody is staff intensive and is the most expensive kind of housing in any prison system.

They do have contact with other prisoners or human beings but it is not personal contact; it is impersonal and often delivered with shouting or yelling across the pods of cells into the recreation boxes or areas nearby in shouting range. They “fish” their hand delivered messages and contraband from cell to cell and communicate more elaborately than those of us that use the internet as their confidentiality levels exceed those of any firewall or webmaster.

They are kept in conditions that are difficult to describe unless you worked there, lived there or been there for any prolonged period of time. The place has a smell of its own (like dirty feet or socks) and is drab in color and hollow in reverberating sounds as the noise bounces off the walls endlessly.

They are allowed to read books [they can exchange book via the library], write letters, watch television and engage in conversations with other prisoners through the cell doors (perforated with holes to allow maximum air flow) made of steel and double locked with safety pins to avoid accidental opening of these doors allowing two prisoners out at the same time which would violate the policy of one prisoner out of the cell at a time.

They do live in a state of idleness. They are prevented by statutory law to seek higher education opportunities but are allowed to engage in attaining their GED or meet mandatory literacy act conditions. They have access to a phone and share an informal schedule agreed upon by all inside that pod and often call those who will accept their collect calls with premium rates attached to them.

When they are allowed out of their cells, they are placed in a large concrete box void of any exercise equipment and covered with a huge steel rail welded with heavy gauge steel mesh to allow the sunshine to pour through. They are allowed two hours of recreation and shower three times a week. Many engage in this opportunity to leave their cell area but a quarter of the population tends to refuse to leave their cells because of the heavy security requirements before and after such an activity. Secondary, it is practice that when a prisoner goes to recreation his cell area is searched for contraband and inspected for any tampering of equipment that may have occurred within the time he is there alone and not under any supervision. If they leave, they stand a chance of losing some of their unauthorized property either altered or attained through unauthorized means.

Special Management Units are designed for isolation and control. This is the primary design and it serves this purpose well. It has been an expectation by society that every prison system has a designated unit for such purpose and in Arizona there are three maximum custody units that fit that purpose and design. Special Management Units (SMU) are seriously understaffed. This has been a grave flaw of these control units as staffing patterns have been altered and downsized by budget and agency needs to re-allocate staff [especially shift supervisors] to other facilities throughout the state leaving the SMU without good leadership capabilities and decision making tools.

Since 2009, the staffing patterns of these Special Management units have been cut severely impacting their daily operation in such a manner, many of these mandated services are limited or short cuts must be taken to meet the daily schedule or agenda for the day. This is one of those conditions that lead to “perpetual incapacitation” or incarceration without relief of fresh air / sunshine.

It is nearly impossible to allow every prisoner his time in the shower or rec cage as there aren’t enough hours in the day to meet these conditions of confinement as outlined by their own policies. Make up days are Saturday and Sunday and they are never caught up leaving approximately a quarter of the population without recs or showers on any given week. The rotation makes is bearable that most get their showers and exercise but nevertheless, there isn’t enough time in the day to do them all.

Another grave flaw of these Special Management Units is the placement of those severely mentally ill (SMI) prisoners. The mixing of these SMI prisoners with anti-socially behavioral misfits inside these walls creates bedlam and chaos for both prisoner and staff.

It is true that “people go crazy here in lockdown” and it is for certain that many of those who weren’t mentally ill before their placement here are now teetering on being borderline insane because of these environmental influences that strips their humanity away day by day as they are incapable of doing anything about it and frustrated that they are kept in such dismal conditions of confinement when many are in denial they need to be there for a specific purpose or reason based on their own misconduct or behavior prior to arriving at the SMU.

It is also truthful to say that those who are non-violent can become violent and those who are already violent exceed their own limits of tolerating violence and thrive, plan and participate in extreme violent acts perpetrated through scheming and wanting to harm or kill a correctional officer.

To say the word “hate” doesn’t exist would be a lie. Hate is rampant and drives the environment on any given day that often results in the deployment or discharge of chemical agents, stun guns or even the K 9 cell extraction dogs. Hate exists on both sides of the cell door. Those who wish to harm these officers walking in front of their cells and attempt to spear, dart, and spit or throw feces and urine to assault them carry out their mission with amazing accuracy.

It is most hazardous to walk within the front of any cell without the fear of being smeared with bio hazard substances or drenched in someone else’s urine. Society must know that these are indeed “gladiator pits” and an underworld of pain and violence.

On the contrary of what people think what goes on in there, it is the staff that protects this environment with deliberate silence but also with pure dedication to get the job done no matter how short handed they are. Silence is taken as a sign of loyalty to the individual or persons in charge who works there and endures the harassment and hate within this place. Silence allows behavioral modification models to reinforce positive means due to negative behaviors.  This is where this type of environment is most volatile and subject to variances not written in any policy or procedure related to the management of prisoners inside the SMU. Silence condones the acts of officers who deal with the kind of working conditions nobody else could even imagine as they adapt, improvise and overcome both personal and physical structures and barriers to get the job done anyway they can.

The physical plant layout is effective as there is a structural separation between the control rooms above and the cell areas below. This prevents hostage situations and access to exit doors. Computer enhanced programs maintain the doors to all entrances and the control room officer has a birds eye view of the officer below at all times. The problem with these SMU control rooms is they are often vacant due to staff shortages thus an officer below cannot enter the cell area to make a unit check unless the officer above is present to punch the computer keyboard and observe.

This shortage leaves adjacent control rooms empty and without observation for hours at a time leaving the cell area unsupervised and without officer presence either on top or on the bottom.

The SMU such as the Browning Unit have wings. Each wing has a designated purpose. For example, every wing has common clusters with pods within those clusters. Ten men cells and six pods make a cluster. There are long wings and short wings.

Long wings have four clusters e.g. A, B, C and D clusters. Short wings have two clusters, E and F wings. These are either designated for general population prisoners or the containment of the Behavioral Unit or Enhanced Security Unit. On the other side we have more wings. These wings are the Security Threat Group wings where we have I, J, K, L clusters and death row wing has G and H clusters.

Needless to say, all wings are overflowing creating a mixture of non death row and validated gang members being in adjoining cells and with no physical separation except concrete and steel. In addition some such as E and F clusters have been double bunked with no staff increase on the rosters and tax the staff tremendously when it comes to feeding, recreation or showers.

While there at the Browning Unit, we housed prisoners that were violent and non-violent; escape risks and those serving extreme long sentences. Then there are the severe mentally ill and behavioral misfits that can’t or won’t follow institutional rules and have committed serious acts of violence with or without weapons and committed other state crimes within the prison setting including homicide.

There are over 240 gangsters housed there and validated to be incarcerated at maximum custody levels commonly referred to as Level 5.  Some have been there for over ten years and some are there because of recent gang activity that involves moving drugs on the streets as well as inside the prison walls as they control drugs and divide their profits according to those by laws established by the heads of each gang that is divided by race and ethnicity.

In addition there are protective segregation prisoners who have committed crimes that are unacceptable by their own prison standards and need protection from being killed by other prisoners. There are also those individuals who have perpetrated acts against the administration or correctional officers and are housed there to closely monitor their behavior and conduct while serving the remaining time on their sentences.

During my assignment at the SMU II or now renamed Browning Unit, there was dedicated staff who worked hard to maintain a safe and orderly environment. They carried out their orders, their tasks and their duties without so much a whimper of complaint and have exceeded any administrator’s expectation to be professional and to the best of my knowledge performed life saving acts e.g. CPR and other first aid tasks to keep prisoners on suicide watches alive and did so in the finest standards possible.

One could not keep count of the numerous times they saved lives and prevented a self-inflicted death attempt either by hanging or cutting themselves with unauthorized razors smuggled in after a shower was completed but not searched thoroughly (in the  mouth) when returned to the cell.

These SMU units are considered to be the “end of the road” for those assigned there and often released from there once they do their time. They are punitive in nature and design. Solitary confinement is a misnomer for it is actually maximum custody with all the legitimate tools available to manage prisoners at such a high level.

However, solitary confinement is a condition that has invaded or contaminated these maximum custody units because of their mismanagement of time housed there, reasons for being kept there for prolonged periods of time and the lack of attention to detail and operational needs that creates chaos and misdeeds in a very relative short period of time if allowed to fester and left untreated.  

It is true that some administrators misuse this placement to impose punishment upon punishment. It was not designed for that purpose nor was it meant to be long term for those who needed protective custody, SMI or other administrative needs. It was designed for gang control, homicide perps (cop killers and correctional officers especially) suspects and extremely violent and uncooperative prisoners that have an extension history of assaultive behaviors on staff and other prisoners.

A legitimate gang step down program was put into place in 2007-2008 to allow those identified to be gang members to go to a lower custody level based on positive participation of the program and staying away from gang activities. There are also debrief options on the table that allows prisoners to renounce their gang membership and go into protective custody after sharing gang intel and passing a polygraph to confirm their information.  Between these two programs, many gang members are eligible to reduce their custody levels and function in a less restrictive environment until their time is done.

The trend to fill solitary confinement must be reversed. Government leaders must insist in reducing their population within numbers staff can effectively and safely managed. Classification for such placement must be justified and reviewed and revised to allow timely reviews to be conducted to allow release or programming while in such a status within an SMU.

Placement terms must become shorter with viable alternatives attached or available for those eligible to reduce their custody levels based on program compliance and clear conduct for an expressed time period since their arrival within this custody level.

Administrative oversight should not end at the warden’s office but rather be subject to review by an independent board of inquiries composed of a medical employee, mental health staff, a case manager and an administrator with a civilian appointee as the chair person to ensure independent thinking and problem solving.

Grievances and due process procedures must be scrutinized for patterns of behavior or misbehavior by staff as well as those who abuse the grievance procedures to make a mockery of their rights to express concern or discrepancies.

The use of maximum custody commonly referred to as solitary confinement must be selective and handled with professionalism and objectivity rather than the opposite manner it is being handled today.  The manner of neglect and inattention to details resulted in a mission creep that leaves us with mayhem today.

More information has revealed that extreme isolation can and does impact a human being in a most negative manner.  Just how much is left up to the individual impacted but nevertheless, it creates more treatment care and drives up the costs of such placements. It also puts many correctional employees is harm’s way as this environment is both hostile and dangerous for all that enter there without the proper protective or safety equipment.

The removal of the severely mentally ill alone will reduce deaths, self harm and other acts that are created by this environmental structure as it destroys the prisoner’s hopes to being well again and touch [have human contact] with someone again like they did before they were placed inside this condition called “solitary confinement.”

Source:

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/columns-analysis/2012/07/09/colin-dayan-inhumane-world-solitary-confinement/1220009