The new head of Colorado’s Department of Corrections is working to reduce or end the practice of putting inmates in Solitary confinement (also known as Ad Seg) after spending 20 hours in a cell himself. He says that the experience helped him understand why the governor’s call to end Ad Seg for mentally ill prisoners was so important. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Rick Raemish wrote:
Eventually, I broke a promise to myself and asked an officer what time it was. 11:10 a.m. I felt as if I’d been there for days. I sat with my mind. How long would it take before Ad Seg chipped that away? I don’t know, but I’m confident that it would be a battle I would lose.
Calling the practice “counterproductive and inhumane”, Raemish said that he will follow the lead of New York officials in their efforts to cut down on the use of the measure to punish or isolate inmates …
