Play About Solitary Confinement To Be Performed At State House Tuesday

BOSTON (CBS) -- A play that prisoners' rights advocates hope will raise awareness about the practice of solitary confinement is coming to the Massachusetts State House this week.

Julia Steele Allen will perform her play "Mariposa and the Saint," which tells the story of Sara "Mariposa" Fonseca's experience in solitary confinement through the prisoner's own words, for the Massachusetts State Legislature at noon Tuesday.

The advocacy group Prisoners' Legal Service hopes the play raises awareness about the use of solitary confinement in Massachusetts, one of only three states that allows prisoners to be held in solitary confinement for up to 10 years for a single disciplinary infraction.

"Disciplinary segregation is what we're focusing on eliminating--that up to 10 year sentence," said Prisoners' Legal Service executive director Leslie Walker. "Instead, requiring the department of corrections, the state system, to allow prisoners to earn their way out of solitary, and provide them with the resources to not go back."

The play is also showing Saturday night in Amherst at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Suzanne Sausville talks to Leslie Walker