[Ppnews] GAO Report Questions Widespread Use of Solitary Confinement in Federal Prisons
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Wed Jun 5 12:15:07 EDT 2013
GAO Report Questions Widespread Use of Solitary Confinement in Federal
Prisons
June 1, 2013 By Jean Casella and James Ridgeway
<http://solitarywatch.com/author/jeancasellaandjamesridgeway/>
http://solitarywatch.com/2013/06/01/gao-report-questions-widespread-use-of-solitary-confinement-in-federal-prisons/
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons currently holds more than 12,400 individuals
in 23-hour-a-day lockdown, making it the largest practitioner of
solitary and other forms of isolated confinement in the nation, and most
likely the world. Yet the BOP does not know whether its use of
"segregated housing" has any impact on prison safety, how it affects the
prisoners who endure it, or how much it all costs American taxpayers.
This according to a comprehensive report
<http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654349.pdf>released yesterday by the
Government Accountability Office.
The GAO documents a dramatic rise in the use of isolated confinement,
continuing over the past five years. Yet "BOP has not assessed the
impact of segregated housing on institutional safety or the impacts of
long-term segregation on inmates." The report also questions recent
steps taken by the BOP, ostensibly to address its use of isolated
confinement. "In January 2013," the report summary states, "BOP
authorized a study of segregated housing; however, it is unclear to what
extent the study will assess the extent to which segregated housing
units contribute to institutional safety." The report summary
continues: "As of January 2013, BOP is considering conducting mental
health case reviews for inmates held in SHUs or ADX for more than 12
continuous months. However, without an assessment of the impact of
segregation on institutional safety or study of the long-term impact of
segregated housing on inmates, BOP cannot determine the extent to which
segregated housing achieves its stated purpose to protect inmates, staff
and the general public."
According to the cover letter released with the report, the study of the
BOP's use of segregated housing was done at the request of three members
of Congress: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who last year convened a
Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on solitary confinement in which he
sharply questioned BOP director Charles Samuels; Elijah Cummings (D-MD),
ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform; and Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member on the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
The letter states:
There is little publicly available information on BOP's use of
segregated housing units. Given the potential high costs, lack of
research on their effectiveness, and possible long-term detrimental
effects on inmates, you requested that we review BOP's segregated
housing unit practices, including BOP's standards, reasons for
segregating inmates, and costs.
The report is indeed a mine of information on a subject that has been
largely hidden from the public by the BOP, which bars press visits to
its solitary confinement facilities and which collects, aggregates, and
publishes little data on its use of prison isolation.
The GAO begins by outlining the various types of isolated confinement
units operated by the BOP. Individuals can be placed in Special Housing
Units (SHUs) in either "administrative detention" (for classification
or security reasons) or "disciplinary segregation" for breaking prison
rules; they are supposed to be there for finite terms. Those in Special
Management Units (SMUs) are most often classified as members of a gang
or other "disruptive group" or have "a history of serious disruptive
disciplinary infractions." Those held at the Administrative Maximum
facility in Florence, Colorado (ADX) are supposed to be "inmates whose
placement in another facility poses a risk to inmates, staff, or the
public or good order of the facility; and/or inmates whose status before
or after incarceration does not allow them to be safely housed in
another facility."
In all three types of isolated confinement, individuals remains in their
cells for at least 23 hours a day, eat meals in their cells, have
minimal exercise and programming and limited visits and phone calls.
Those in the SHUs or SMUs may be double-celled; those at ADX are always
alone. (The BOP's two Communications Management Units, or CMUs, are
included only as an appendix, the report states, because individuals
imprisoned there have some out-of-cell time.) People are placed in
isolated confinement through various types of hearing processes that
rely solely on prison officials to provide evidence and make judgments,
and are kept there according to review proceedings that are often appear
somewhat or entirely pro forma.
As far as numbers go, the report states: "Of all federal inmates in BOP
facilities, about 7 percent are held in segregation and, as of February
2013, BOP held the majority of segregated inmates---81 percent, or
10,050 inmates---in SHUs. The second largest population held in
segregation is SMU inmates, who comprise about 16 percent of all
segregated inmates, or about 1,960 inmates. ADX holds 450 inmates,
including 15 inmates in the ADX Step Down Units at the high security
United States Penitentiary (USP) Florence."
According to the report, the numbers are growing, primarily due to the
ongoing expansion of the SMUs: "From fiscal year 2008 through February
2013, the total inmate population in segregated housing units increased
approximately 17 percent---from 10,659 to 12,460 inmates....By
comparison, the total inmate population in BOP facilities increased by
about 6 percent since fiscal year 2008."
A large section of the report focuses largely on how the BOP monitors
and documents how it runs its various isolation facilities. "BOP
Headquarters (HQ) has a mechanism in place to centrally monitor how
prisons implement most segregated housing unit policies," it states,
"but the degree of BOP monitoring varies depending on the type of
segregated housing unit. In addition, we identified concerns related to
facilities' documentation of monitoring conditions of confinement and
procedural protections." The report finds particular fault with
monitoring procedures at ADX, and with the level of documentation in all
areas at nearly all facilities.
The GAO also looks at how the BOP tracks--or fails to track--the
increased cost of housing individuals in isolated confinement. "BOP does
not regularly track or calculate the cost of housing inmates in
segregated housing units. BOP computes costs by facility or complex, and
does not separate or differentiate the costs for segregated housing
units, such as SHUs, SMUs, and ADX that may be within the complex."
(Solitary Watch ran into this precise obstacle
<http://solitarywatch.com/2012/01/31/new-fact-sheet-the-high-cost-of-solitary-confinement/>when
it filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the cost of holding
prisoners at ADX.)
However, for the first time, apparently in response to requests from the
GAO, "BOP budget officials provided a snapshot estimate that compares
the daily inmate per capita costs in fiscal year 2012 at ADX, a sample
SMU, a SHU at a sample medium security facility, and a SHU at a sample
high security facility" on January 31, 2013. According to the
report, "BOP estimates the daily inmate per capita costs at ADX are
$216.12 compared with $85.74 at the rest of the Florence complex.
According to BOP estimates, the inmate per capita costs at the sample
SMU facility are $119.71, which are higher than per capita costs in
general population in BOP's sample high security facility, which are
$69.41." In other words, it costs more than $78,000 a year to keep
someone at ADX--more than three times the cost of a regular
high-security prison. The overall annual cost of isolated confinement,
as calculated by the GAO, runs well into the tens of millions of dollars.
Perhaps the most damning portion of the report comes near the end, where
the GAO points out that the BOP has no evidence to show that its costly
use of isolated confinement makes its prisons any safer. "BOP has not
assessed the extent to which all three types of segregated housing
units---SHUs, SMUs, and ADX--- impact institutional safety for inmates
and staff. Although BOP has not completed an evaluation of the impact of
segregation, BOP senior management and prison officials told us that
they believed segregated housing units were effective in helping to
maintain institutional safety."
This "belief," the report points out, runs in the face of evidence from
states that have reduced their use of isolated confinement. "After
implementing segregated housing unit reforms that reduced the numbers of
inmates held in segregation, officials from all five states we spoke
with reported little or no adverse impact on institutional safety."
Finally, the BOP also has no real idea of the effect this grand
experiment in isolation may be having on the prisoners in its care.
"While BOP conducts regular assessments of mental health of inmates, BOP
has not evaluated the impact of long-term segregation on inmates. BOP's
Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) officials said they have not
studied the impact of long-term segregation on inmates because of
competing priorities related to studying impacts of prisoner reentry,
drug treatment, and recidivism."
Yet, according to the GAO, "While most BOP officials told us there was
little or no clear evidence of mental health impacts from long-term
segregation, BOP's Psychology Services Manual explicitly acknowledges
the potential mental health risks of inmates placed in long-term
segregation. Specifically, it states that BOP 'recognizes that extended
periods of confinement in Administrative Detention or Disciplinary
Segregation Status may have an adverse effect on the overall mental
status of some individuals.' In addition, according to BOP's mission
statement, BOP protects society by confining offenders in prisons that
are, among other things, safe and humane...In addition, BOP's ORE is
responsible for conducting research and evaluation of BOP programs, but
ORE has not conducted studies on the impact of long-term segregation on
inmates.
The GAO adds an understated, but damning statement about the BOP's lack
of accountability for its actions: "Further, according to generally
accepted government auditing standards, managers should evaluate
programs to provide external accountability for the use of public
resources to understand the extent to which the program is fulfilling
its objectives."
In response to its findings, the GAO recommends that the BOP improve
its documentation and monitoring of segregated housing, especially at
ADX, and some sort of assessment to determine "the extent that
segregated housing contributes to institutional safety" and "the impact
of long-term segregation on inmates in SHUs, SMUs, and ADX."
According to the report, the BOP has "concurred" with these
recommendations, and promised to improve its practices and conduct
assessments accordingly. This surely will not happen quickly. Whether
it happens effectively, in a way that genuinely changes the
day-to-day reality of the 12,400 federal prisoners who live in
isolation, remains to be seen, and may depend largely on
Congress's willingness to keep pressure on the BOP.
One sobering development to keep in mind is the federal government's
simultaneous plan to renovate and open a second federal supermax prison
in Thomson, Illinois, at a cost of nearly $60 million, reportedly
<http://solitarywatch.com/2013/04/13/obamas-2014-budget-confirms-plans-for-adx-thomson-new-federal-supermax-prison/> to
relieve overcrowding and house "SMU and ADX type inmates." This move
(facilitated in part by Senator Dick Durbin) would suggest that the U.S.
government does not plan to significantly reduce the number of people it
holds in 23-hour lockdown--at least, not any time soon.
--
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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