Comments on: Groups call for end to solitary confinement  http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/08/14/american-civil-liberties-union-american-friends-service-committee-call-for-end-to-solitary-confinement/ Your Inside Track to Arizona Politics Fri, 17 May 2013 21:13:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Donna Leone Hamm, Middle Ground Director http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/08/14/american-civil-liberties-union-american-friends-service-committee-call-for-end-to-solitary-confinement/comment-page-1/#comment-74604 Donna Leone Hamm, Middle Ground Director Sat, 18 Aug 2012 04:35:32 +0000 http://azcapitoltimes.com/?p=49413#comment-74604 There is no question that solitary confinement, especially for the mentally ill, causes additional problems for this population. There is no question that anyone who is released from prison after spending a lengthy amount of time incarcerated is potentially going to have adjustment issues, particularly if they have few supporters or family members available to assist. This applies not just to those being released from supermax facilities; it can apply to someone who has simply been incarcerated in general population for an extended amt. of time. There is also no question that solitary confinement is not going to be eliminated in Arizona's prison system, nor in any other prison system operated by any state or federal prison authority. The serious problem with this study is that while the DOC releases anywhere between 12,000 to 14,000 people each year from prison, the researchers only sampled 40 people spread out over a two-year period. This reduces the report to a comic-book social study. There was no control group. From a social scientific standpoint, the study is invalid. From a legislator's perspective, it is laughable. No question of it: Arizona has many serious problems with its prisons. The DOC uses temporary beds which can cause problems for both staff and the inmates assigned to those beds. Solitary confinement needs to be carefully monitored and procedures need to be in place to insure that it is not abused or over utilized. We (Middle Ground Prison Reform) were the only prison reform group present at the Legislature when the DOC made their presentation in 2012 regarding the desire to eliminate as many temporary beds as possoble. If built, that's what these new beds will do. Meanwhile, AFSC needs to be responsible when releasing \studies\ that purport to be noteworthy or ground-breaking. This one is neither. It appears to have been authored with a pre-determined outcome in mind. There is no question that solitary confinement, especially for the mentally ill, causes additional problems for this population. There is no question that anyone who is released from prison after spending a lengthy amount of time incarcerated is potentially going to have adjustment issues, particularly if they have few supporters or family members available to assist. This applies not just to those being released from supermax facilities; it can apply to someone who has simply been incarcerated in general population for an extended amt. of time.

There is also no question that solitary confinement is not going to be eliminated in Arizona’s prison system, nor in any other prison system operated by any state or federal prison authority.

The serious problem with this study is that while the DOC releases anywhere between 12,000 to 14,000 people each year from prison, the researchers only sampled 40 people spread out over a two-year period. This reduces the report to a comic-book social study. There was no control group. From a social scientific standpoint, the study is invalid. From a legislator’s perspective, it is laughable.

No question of it: Arizona has many serious problems with its prisons. The DOC uses temporary beds which can cause problems for both staff and the inmates assigned to those beds. Solitary confinement needs to be carefully monitored and procedures need to be in place to insure that it is not abused or over utilized. We (Middle Ground Prison Reform) were the only prison reform group present at the Legislature when the DOC made their presentation in 2012 regarding the desire to eliminate as many temporary beds as possoble. If built, that’s what these new beds will do.

Meanwhile, AFSC needs to be responsible when releasing \studies\ that purport to be noteworthy or ground-breaking. This one is neither. It appears to have been authored with a pre-determined outcome in mind.

]]> By: State Rep. John Kavanagh http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/08/14/american-civil-liberties-union-american-friends-service-committee-call-for-end-to-solitary-confinement/comment-page-1/#comment-74498 State Rep. John Kavanagh Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:42:30 +0000 http://azcapitoltimes.com/?p=49413#comment-74498 Could the ACLU take a more ridiculous position? We budget 500 more prison beds to relieve existing overcrowding and they sue us. Enough said. Could the ACLU take a more ridiculous position? We budget 500 more prison beds to relieve existing overcrowding and they sue us. Enough said.

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