Obama wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post (bio: “Barack Obama is president of the United States”) explaining his suite of penal reform policies, which begin with ending the barbaric practice of putting children into solitary confinement, deemed a form of torture, “an affront to our common humanity.”
The new policy also includes limits on adults in solitary confinement, making the measure a “last resort” with limits on duration.
The policy only affects federal institutions, leaving state and county jails and prisons free to continue submitting prisoners to extremely long terms in solitary — sometimes years at a time.
Obama writes that the “United States is a nation of second chances” but argues that the mental scars of incarceration and solitary “lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences” like “depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior.”
As president, my most important job is to keep the American people safe. And since I took office, overall crime rates have decreased by more than 15 percent. In our criminal justice system, the punishment should fit the crime — and those who have served their time should leave prison ready to become productive members of society. How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity.
Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement
[Barack Obama/Washington Post]
(via Kottke)
(Image: High Royds solitary confinement, Philld, CC-BY-SA)
