#adseg

[louis-sj]

AdSeg

Available light photography

It was DARK. No lights/electricity in the abandoned building.

[louis-sj]

Solitary Confinement Door

AdSeg door: https://www.tumblr.com/louis-sj/745589264003350528/adseg?source=share

Same cell. Note the frame mounted lock.

[sonniquick]

Life in Adseg

  A letter from 2010. For years he called me Mom. He needed one. His bio mom doesn’t write to him.

I’d like to bring you up to date about Jamie’s life in adseg. I’ve written a lot that is going into my book but after 2016 it will be in the sequel. That will be about the last years and the process of getting out and re-entry into society with all its ups and downs. This post will have parts of a…

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[sonniquick]

Unintended Consequences - Chapter - ITFO

Unintended Consequences – Chapter – ITFO

It was so hard to keep his head together. Jamie’s mind went all over the place. It was hard when there was no one to talk to. He was so alone. He could only talk to himself. He was in 24/7 lock-up for a year. Administrative segregation, or adseg, it was called. He had tried so hard to not let this happen. He tried to stay away from trouble but it always found him, anyway.  

     Mentally, he…

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[sonniq]

Unintended Consequences - Chapter - ITFO

Unintended Consequences – Chapter – ITFO

It was so hard to keep his head together. Jamie’s mind went all over the place. It was hard when there was no one to talk to. He was so alone. He could only talk to himself. He was in 24/7 lock-up for a year. Administrative segregation, or adseg, it was called. He had tried so hard to not let this happen. He tried to stay away from trouble but it always found him, anyway.  

     Mentally, he…

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[sonniquick]

What is There To Do in a Solitary Cell?

What is There To Do in a Solitary Cell?

Think.  What else is there to do but think? What would you do if there was nothing to do, day after day after day? Time wouldn’t matter.  Would you care if breakfast was served at 3:30 in the morning in a room where the lights were on 24/7 and you were unfortunate enough to be in a room that had no window or if there was, there was nothing to see or it was to dirty to see anything. If there was…

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[newsandnorms]

Connecticut Decreases Use Of Solitary Confinement In Prisons

Daniela Altimari, Hartford Courant The solitary confinement unit at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers consists of a dense warren of cells along a narrow corridor with low ceilings and an absence of natural light. Former inmates say the eerie quiet is punctured only by the sounds of prisoners screaming, cursing and throwing themselves against steel doors. It is, says one man who spent two-thirds of his three-year sentence there, the lowest dungeon in the castle. But these days, the dungeon is increasingly likely to be empty because Connecticut has significantly curtailed its use of solitary confinement. The practice of isolating problematic prisoners for extended periods of time peaked in 2003, when 244 inmates were held in solitary units. As of mid-October, 52 inmates were being held in solitary confinement in Connecticut prisons, according to Department of Correction spokeswoman Karen Martucci. Connecticut's retreat from solitary confinement is in step with a larger movement, led by activists, legal scholars and even some correctional administrators who have come to view the practice as inhumane. "It's easy to dump people at Northern,'' said David McGuire, legislative and policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. "The commissioner has changed the regulations significantly. He understands that it's not productive to keep people in solitary for long periods of time. It's an extremely traumatic experience." More changes may be coming: Semple plans to reconvene a departmental panel on administrative segregation to consider additional policy revisions, Martucci said. McGuire and other advocates are pressing for those new policies to be enshrined in statute, just as New York and other states have done. He hopes lawmakers will consider legislation further restricting solitary confinement next year... Hope R. Metcalf, executive director of the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School... credited the Department of Correction for taking steps to address some of the problems... "From a numbers perspective, Connecticut is doing much better than it was,'' she said. "The current leadership [at the Department of Correction] understands that solitary should be a last resort and for the shortest period of time ... that is the biggest change.'' But, she added, "I hesitate to say much has changed inside Northern. It's still a harsh environment and there's still nothing of any value offered to the men who live there in solitary." In Connecticut, a top administrator — the director of population management for the entire system — must sign off before an inmate is placed in administrative segregation, Martucci said. The inmate also must undergo a mental health screening. Connecticut's tiered system is designed to create incentives for inmates. Those in the more restrictive phase one are housed at Northern. "You still get recreation, you still get showers, you still get phone calls, but not at the duration you normally would,'' Martucci said...

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-solitary-confinement-connecticut-1018-20151019-story.html

  Human rights at issue include, but are not limited to:

right to be free from torture; the right to dignity; the right to be free from degrading treatment of punishment; right to highest standard or attainable health; prison principles.

  Juan Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture: “Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles.” [link] 

  Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Article 7: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

Article 10.1: All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

  ICCPR, Forty-fourth session, 1992.

General Comment No. 20: Replaces general comment 7 concerning prohibition of torture and cruel treatment or punishment (Art. 7) : . 03/10/1992. General Comment 20.

2. The aim of the provisions of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is to protect both the dignity and the physical and mental integrity of the individual. It is the duty of the State party to afford everyone protection through legislative and other measures as may be necessary against the acts prohibited by article 7, whether inflicted by people acting in their official capacity, outside their official capacity or in a private capacity. The prohibition in article 7 is complemented by the positive requirements of article 10, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, which stipulates that “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”.

3. The text of article 7 allows of no limitation. The Committee also reaffirms that, even in situations of public emergency such as those referred to in article 4 of the Covenant, no derogation from the provision of article 7 is allowed and its provisions must remain in force. The Committee likewise observes that no justification or extenuating circumstances may be invoked to excuse a violation of article 7 for any reasons, including those based on an order from a superior officer or public authority.

…

5. The prohibition in article 7 relates not only to acts that cause physical pain but also to acts that cause mental suffering to the victim. In the Committee’s view, moreover, the prohibition must extend to corporal punishment, including excessive chastisement ordered as punishment for a crime or as an educative or disciplinary measure. It is appropriate to emphasize in this regard that article 7 protects, in particular, children, pupils and patients in teaching and medical institutions.

6. The Committee notes that prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to acts prohibited by article 7… 

  Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Article 1:

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

Article 2:

1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Article 4:

1. Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture.

2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.

  International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Article 12.1 : The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

  Committee On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights

[ICESCR] The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health : . 08/11/2000. Substantive Issues Arising in the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. General Comment No. 14 (2000).

3. The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the freedoms of association, assembly and movement. These and other rights and freedoms address integral components of the right to health.

…

7. Article 12.1 provides a definition of the right to health, while article 12.2 enumerates illustrative, non-exhaustive examples of States parties’ obligations.

8. The right to health is not to be understood as a right to be healthy. The right to health contains both freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to control one’s health and body, including sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation. By contrast, the entitlements include the right to a system of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health.

  Convention on the Rights of the Child

Article 3.1: In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Article 37.1: States Parties shall ensure that:

(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.

  Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Article 15 - Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his or her free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

2. States Parties shall take all effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, from being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

  U.N. General Assembly, 76th plenary meeting, 9 December 1988.

43/173. Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, A/RES/43/173

Principle 1

All persons under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be treated in a humane manner and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

…

Principle 5

1. These principles shall be applied to all persons within the territory of any given State, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion or religious belief, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, birth or other status.

2. Measures applied under the law and designed solely to protect the rights and special status of women, especially pregnant women and nursing mothers, children and juveniles, aged, sick or handicapped persons shall not be deemed

to be discriminatory.  The need for, and the application of, such measures shall always be subject to review by a judicial or other authority.

Principle 6

No person under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.*  No circumstance whatever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

*The term “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” should be interpreted so as to extend the widest possible protection against abuses, whether physical or mental, including the holding of a detained or imprisoned person in conditions which deprive him, temporarily or permanently, of the use of any of his natural senses, such as sight or hearing, or of his awareness of place and the passing of time.

  American Convention on Human Rights

Article 5. Right to Humane Treatment

1. Every person has the right to have his physical, mental, and moral integrity respected.

2. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.