New York Agrees To Overhaul Solitary Confinement In Prisons
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York has agreed to overhaul how solitary confinement is used in state prisons, settling a long-standing lawsuit brought by a civil liberties group.
New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman called Wednesday's agreement historic.
"What we have done is reduce the inhumanity of solitary confinement," Lieberman told WCBS 880's Rich Lamb. "We have ensured that there are services available – mental health services, educational services."
About 4,000 of the state's roughly 60,000 prisoners are serving their time in 23-hour confinement for violating rules.
But many of them have been held there for months and even years for minor, nonviolent violations. Advocates say that's overly harsh and mentally damaging.
Under the agreement, the state will seek to move 1,100 such prisoners to more rehabilitative housing units in the coming months.
"Yearslong sentences for nonviolent behavior are a thing of the past. For those who do end up in solitary they will be able to automatically earn early release from program participation and good behavior," NYCLU senior staff attorney Taylor Pendergrass said.
The public will also benefit from the changes.
"People who previously would've been released directly from SHU (security housing unit) to the street will now get re-entry programming and human contact before they return to our communities," Pendergrass said. "Not only is this approach far more humane, it is a much smarter approach in terms of improving safety and a far better use of our scarce criminal justice resources."
Among other changes, state officials will also retrain guards across the state's 54 prisons and limit the number of offenses that can result in solitary.
"The harshest aspects of solitary will be abolished," Pendergrass said. "The loaf -- a near inedible food served as punishment -- will no longer be fed to prisoners, people in solitary will finally have telephone access to friends and family on the outside, increased access to reading materials and educational materials."
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