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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <b><small><small><small><a
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<h1 id="reader-title">In 1972, he was put in solitary
confinement. He's been there since, but now there's hope.</h1>
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<h2>For more than 40 years, Albert Woodfox has lived in
solitary confinement at Louisiana State Penitentiary.</h2>
<p><a target="_blank"
href="http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/lawyers_call_for_release_of_an.html">Originally
convicted along with two others of armed robbery in
1971</a>, Woodfox — who is now 68 years old — would
later be accused and convicted of murdering one of the
prison's guards.<br>
</p>
<p>After receiving a new sentence of life in prison, <a
target="_blank"
href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96030547">Woodfox
was moved into solitary confinement</a>, where he
spent the next 43 years. In June of last year, an
appeals court ordered Woodfox released from prison,
citing a lack of evidence, only to have that decision
reversed. In November, a federal appeals court ruled
that <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/us/angola-inmate-can-be-tried-3rd-time.html">Woodfox
could be made to stand trial for a third time</a>; his
first two convictions were overturned.
</p>
<p>In the meantime, he remains in solitary confinement,
living out his days in a 6-foot-by-9-foot cell, punished
for a crime he argues he did not commit. There's no
telling what 43 years away from other people has done to
him, and it's hard to imagine what sort of life he will
have if and when he is released back into the world,
having been away from it for so long.
</p>
<h2>There are a few things we know about solitary
confinement — none of them good.</h2>
<p>In 2011, the United Nations called on countries to do
away with solitary confinement. The argument is that the
mental abuse prisoners in solitary undergo as the result
of their placement can amount to torture.
</p>
<p>“Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is
contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary
system,” <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11506&LangID=E">said
UN special rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez</a>.
</p>
<p>"Considering the severe mental pain or suffering
solitary confinement may cause," he added, "it can
amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment when used as a punishment,
during pretrial detention, indefinitely or for a
prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities
or juveniles."
</p>
<p><strong>We know studies have shown solitary confinement
</strong><a target="_blank"
href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/211971.pdf"><strong>doesn't
actually make anyone any safer</strong></a>. In
fact, some find that people held in solitary confinement
for extended periods of time actually become <em></em><a
target="_blank"
href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/craig-haney-solitary-confinement-is-a-tried-and-true-torture-device/"><em>more</em>
likely to become violent</a><em>.</em>
</p>
<p><span class="redactor-invisible-space"><strong>We know
that somewhere <a target="_blank"
href="http://solitarywatch.com/2012/02/01/how-many-prisoners-are-in-solitary-confinement-in-the-united-states/">around
80,000 prisoners</a> are being held in solitary
confinement</strong> at any given time.</span>
</p>
<p><span class="redactor-invisible-space"><strong>We know
that it <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/25/282672593/solitary-confinement-costs-78k-per-inmate-and-should-be-curbed-critics-say">costs
three times as much</a> to house someone in
solitary confinement</strong> than in the general
population.</span>
</p>
<p><span class="redactor-invisible-space">No matter how
you look at it, keeping people in solitary confinement
for extended periods of time simply doesn't make
sense.</span>
</p>
<h2>In July, President Obama ordered the Department of
Justice to review the use of solitary confinement in
U.S. prisons.</h2>
<p>He showed skepticism for the practice, calling it "not
smart."
</p>
<p>"I’ve asked my attorney general to start a review of
the overuse of solitary confinement across American
prisons," <a target="_blank"
href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/14/remarks-president-naacp-conference">said
Obama during a speech at the NAACP conference</a>.
"The social science shows that an environment like that
is often more likely to make inmates more alienated,
more hostile, potentially more violent. Do we really
think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in
tiny cells for 23 hours a day, sometimes for months or
even years at a time?"
</p>
<h2>The <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.justice.gov/restrictivehousing">review
has been completed</a>, and the president is adopting
its recommendations.</h2>
<p>In an editorial from <a target="_blank"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barack-obama-why-we-must-rethink-solitary-confinement/2016/01/25/29a361f2-c384-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html">The
Washington Post</a> on Jan. 25, the president outlined
exactly what that means:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Banning solitary confinement for juveniles</li>
<li>Banning solitary confinement as a punishment for
"low-level infractions"</li>
<li>Reducing the amount of time inmates in solitary must
stay in their cells</li>
<li>Expanding on-site mental health resources</li>
</ul>
<p>By the president and Department of Justice's estimate,
this will affect somewhere around 10,000 inmates.
</p>
<h2>It's stories like Woodfox's that makes Obama's latest
action so huge.</h2>
<p>It's rarely "necessary" to hold someone in solitary,
and Obama's new guidelines clearly state that inmates
should be "<a target="_blank"
href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/25/fact-sheet-department-justice-review-solitary-confinement">housed
in the least restrictive setting necessary</a> to
ensure their own safety, as well as the safety of staff,
other inmates, and the public."
</p>
<p>The president's move doesn't go so far as to eliminate
the use of solitary confinement, but it does set the
framework for future reviews of the system, which could
in turn bring an end to the practice.
</p>
<h2>For now, though, Woodfox remains in solitary, awaiting
yet another trial and, perhaps, freedom.</h2>
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