SOLITARY AT RIKERS:
This upcoming Monday, a coalition of advocates, stakeholders, and members of the public will gather for the second time to discuss NYC Department of Corrections decision to expand the use of punitive segregation (aka the Bing) in Riker's island. The "Bing" is a place where people in jail are isolated in a small cell for a unenumerated behavioral infractions....
Why should public health care? I will give you two reasons. First, we have a duty to look after the interest of vulnerable populations. Second, we have a duty to demand accountability through health statistics. Rikers infamy as an ad hoc mental institution is no secret, so there is concern that people who need more in terms of linkage to treatment are instead being infracted and sent to the Bing. Additionally, the city's commitment to expanding punitive segregation is contrary to strides made towards more humane jail and prison conditions more generally. The Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez has recently called for a widespread ban on the use of solitary confinement which he concludes is a violation of basic human rights. https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097&Cr=torture&Cr1==
On the second point. As an observer, i attended a meeting between the Board of Corrections and Dept. of Corrections where the expansion was discussed. I was shocked to learn that DOC was not tracking, in any meaningful way, basic statistical measures like average duration in the Bing or a profile of which detainees and people serving jail sentence were being isolated. Who called for the expansion? What was driving it? Who approved it? THere is a real opportunity to put some basic stats and figures together to answer some questions.
THere are a lot of questions that demand answers and a lot of people really upset about how their family members are being treated.
Journey from Manhattan to the Bronx to brainstorm how public health professionals can contribute to this advocacy. Get out of the classroom and into the community.
Trust me it's worth it....
Here's the info. Just bring yourself, your brain, and maybe a pad of paper. Let me know if you'd like to go....
Read more about this topic.... http://solitarywatch.com/2011/11/21/city-to-sharply-increase-solitary-confinement-cells-on-rikers-island/
Bronx Defenders, 860 Courtlandt Avenue, Bronx, NY, on Monday, January 30 at 6 p.m
DHC
What makes this expansion even more baffling is that New York State has already banned the use of solitary confinement for people with mental illnesses in prisons. The SHU Exclusion Law was passed (after nearly a decade of efforts from nonprofit organizations, community advocacy groups, assembly members, and others) in 2008 and was to be fully implemented by 2011. You can read more about the SHU law at these two links:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.urbanjustice.org/pdf/publications/SHU_facts.pdf
http://www.correctionalassociation.org/PVP/special_housing_units.htm