Long-Term Solitary Confinement Lawsuit By Pelican Bay Prisoners

"The prolonged use of solitary confinement at a high-security prison in California "strips prisoners of their basic humanity" and amounts to illegal torture, a human rights group charged in a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday. The suit, filed on behalf of prisoners by the Center for Constitutional Rights in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., calls for an end to prolonged solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison in northern California. Hundreds of inmates held in the prison's "security housing unit" spend 22.5 hours a day in total isolation, leaving their cells for just roughly 90 minutes a day to exercise, alone, in a small concrete enclosure...".* Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola, and former prosecutor Steve Oh discuss on The Young Turks.

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[dkamouflage]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in Scandinavia, juvenile offenders are also assigned social workers to work with the parent/guardian to help keep the child on the straight and narrow, as well as try to understand psychologically what might be going on in their minds and lives that is leading them towards a life of crime.

We do the same thing here in the US, but because the system is so underfunded, understaffed, and overworked in some areas, SWs only have time for the most urgent cases--if that.

[MatchCard]

Can someone explain what solitary confinement is? Are you thrown into a dark, quiet, locked room or if it just a regular cell but you are by yourself?

[markspencexx]

What do you conclude from those percentages?

[SirDanOfHell]

This is a great video. Ana, and all the other hosts at TYT consistently deliver top-quality news reporting, quality that is not to be found on other, larger, more entrenched and more "successful" newscasts.
PS: Pause at 0:04. Your welcome :D

Solitary confinement leads to mental health issues. Prison isn't about punishment, prison is about deterrent, protection (of the public) and rehabilitation.

[Jex]

They're the size of a large broom closed. Enough room for a short bed, the toilet / sink 2-in-1, a small cinder-block wall to put your toothbrush on, and just enough floor room to get from the bed to the toilet.
.
You're not allowed to make noise, exercise, or do anything other than just lie there. The light are left on 24/7 to keep you in a wakeless / sleepless limbo where you lose all sense of time. Within a week you go insane---after months / years, it becomes permanent insanity.

[markspencexx]

Can you say why your brother was sent to Federal prison and the reason he was given by the prison staff for being placed on solitary?

[moviedude]

Steve Oh just dropped some serious knowledge right there, that particular aspect of prison has never been disclosed by the media. I mean in all the episodes of Lock up on MSNBC never has that once even been discussed. It makes perfect sense

[beatZ]

I didn't know prisoners had the right to Sue...

[EPICsliceOFcake]

As it has been discussed on this show before, the point of prison is two things: keeping the criminals from endangering the public and rehabilitating them so that they can reenter society. It is not meant to punish them.

[arsenelupin]

How about we mandate a month of solitary confinement for each prison guard as part of their training?

[Pseudobadger]

Thanks. I will check out that book. The questions involved regarding this topic are fundamental and involve biology, psychology, and philosophy. That's probably why it is so darned fascinating. Thanks again and take care.

[xCobraStrikex]

I agree, a good lawyer can make all the difference. How often do you volunteer to help convictes at a maximum security prison? Just curious...

[CarlosIsDown]

@308beatz well, theres a law against cruel and unusual punishment in this country. If that happens to a prisoner, what legal recourse does he or she have?

[WanderingTaoist]

When corporations are people and we human beings are not. How can you expect any humanity from our prisons?

[TitParty]

the degree of a nation’s civilization can be seen in the way it treats its prisoners.

[TominMissouri]

Yes, many inmates and staff call it "the hole, " some older "cons" (guys who have been down a long time, like old mob guys) call it "the box" and if they don't call it that, in the Fed, they call it SHU (pronounced just like the one's on your feet) meaning "Special Housing Unit." There is also PC or "Protective Custody, " which is often in the same spot, but they pay attention to who your cellie is (if you have one).

[onagoodday]

I would say 22.5 hours in a concrete box the size of a bathroom is a luxury compared to the concrete box where many of their victims now spend eternity underground.

[NonControversialName]

I paused at 0:04, I don't get it.

[EvilFatCat]

John once again proves to be the most reasonable and thoughtful on the Young Turks.