Concern about the effects of solitary confinement on inmates’ mental health prompted two state legislators to take action to reform how inmates are assigned to solitary confinement, reports the Los Angeles Times.
“The hunger strike made us look at these conditions, but they have been problematic for years,” said Assembly Public Safety Chairman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). “We want to start looking at other ways to deal with the security needs in our prisons in a way that makes sense from a correctional and a human rights standpoint.”
Inspector General Robert Barton, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation advocates for prisoners and their family members spoke at a hearing held in Sacramento on Oct. 9.
“Since many of these inmates will eventually complete their sentences and be released into the community, it is in all of our interests to offer rehabilitation while they are incarcerated — not further deterioration,” said Senate Public Safety Chairwoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley).
There are more than 10,000 inmates in some form of isolation, including solitary confinement units for mentally ill prisoners, said a lawyer representing the inmates in the report. Some of those inmates have been there for decades.
