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The information on the negative impacts of solitary confinement policies in prisons is very clear and persuasive. Study after study has shown that overreliance on and excessive use of "segregated confinement" is unsafe, ineffective, inhumane and discriminatory.
State lawmakers recognized that four years ago when they passed the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act, which imposed limits on the circumstances and length of time in which an inmate could be segregated from the general prison population.
The HALT Act was necessary to curb abuses.
But there's a reason why prisons detain inmates behind high walls topped with razor wire and guarded by officers with guns.
Prisons are filled with many violent and unstable individuals who have committed horrific crimes, making these institutions inherently dangerous places for corrections personnel, inmates and, ultimately, the general public. And only those who have actually served in a prison can fully appreciate the stress, threat and instability those individuals pose.
State lawmakers and the governor must give full consideration and debate to any concerns raised by those who work in the prisons. That includes potential modifications to the HALT Act.
Last week, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released a list of 10 recommendations put forth by a special HALT Act review committee for lawmakers to consider.
The proposals include expanding the types of offenses eligible for segregated confinement, expanding access to segregated confinement for repeat offenders, providing more flexibility in determining the types of actions eligible for segregated confinement, and modifying existing incentive programs that promote good behavior.
The recommendations have the strong support of unions representing prison employees. But others say the proposed reforms will undermine the intent of the HALT Act and gut its effectiveness.
Lawmakers owe it to the people who serve to determine for themselves - with the guidance of the corrections employees and officials, civil liberties and inmate advocacy groups, mental health professionals and others - what impact the recommendations might have, positive or negative, on discipline within the prison and on safety of inmates and correctional officers.
How will these recommendations be applied so as not to undermine the issues the HALT Act was designed to address, such as racial discrimination and abuse of the practice? Lawmakers need to be open to suggestions that could improve prison safety without exposing inmates to the problems that segregated confinement has proven to cause. Are there opportunities for compromise that serve all sides?
Our representatives in Albany owe it to corrections officers, inmates and the public to find out.