Wednesday, June 23, 2004

SACRAMENTO: Prisons to reform solitary confinement rules

Suit by inmate, [? prisoner], isolated for 10 years results in 'up-front due process'

US: Sacramento -- California corrections officials will revamp procedures used to keep thousands of prisoners isolated in tiny cells in some of the most remote lockups in the state, according to the settlement of a 10-year-old lawsuit brought by a jailhouse lawyer doing time at Pelican Bay State Prison.

The settlement will, [allegedly], reshape policies for the use of secured housing, or "supermax,'' units, which have long been decried as inhumane by human rights groups and many mental health professionals. About 3,000 California prisoners spend 22 or 23 hours a day in 8-foot-by-10-foot cells with little human contact.

Prison officials say the secured housing units -- referred to as SHU's in corrections parlance -- are reserved for the worst-of-the-worst inmates, [prisoners], those who cause too much trouble when mixed among general prison populations.

[? And those who are targeted by authorities for special punishment!]

But corrections regulations also allow for inmates, [prisoners], who are declared, [? alleged], members of a prison gang to be shipped off indefinitely to the units, rules that inmates, [prisoners], and activists have complained are too ambiguous and let prison officials sentence inmates, [prisoners], they don't like to years of solitary confinement.

A 1994 lawsuit, brought by an inmate, [prisoner], who has spent nearly a decade confined in the secured housing unit, [solitary confinement], at the notorious Pelican Bay prison near the Oregon border, challenged the rules.

Steve Castillo is serving a 35-year sentence for attempted murder and was validated by prison authorities as a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Castillo, who has filed numerous lawsuits against the corrections department and organized inmate, [prisoner], hunger strikes, contends he is in the housing unit as retaliation for his activism.

Ten years after the lawsuit was first filed, lawyers for the state and Castillo have reached a settlement that corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton characterized as "more clear, concise, up-front due process'' for inmates, [prisoners], facing time in secured housing.

The deal was reached late last month but must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco.

"The hope is that this will keep thousands of people out of SHU's,'' said Charles Carbone, a San Francisco attorney for the inmate-rights group, [prisoner-rights group], California Prison Focus who helped represent Castillo. "It's been a system that has been prone to abuse, and this settlement should change that.''

While acknowledging that "there were problems with the gang validation process,'' corrections spokeswoman Thornton denied that policies have been stretched to banish activists, [?], and said the new policies would likely not result in a dramatic decline in the secured housing population. She pointed to a review done last year that reaffirmed that virtually all of the inmates, [prisoners], in secured housing, [solitary confinement], for gang activity, [? activism], were truly gang affiliates. [? Just plain rubbish and propaganda.]

Policies surrounding the use of secured housing, [solitary confinement], for gang members, [? activists], have been criticized for several reasons.

Corrections officials, not judges, administer the sentence. Inmates, [prisoners], have virtually no opportunity to challenge charges that they are active in a prison gang. And evidence used to prove gang activity has often been flimsy, according to Carbone.

"You could have correspondence between two inmates, [prisoners], about the weather and it could be used against one of the inmates, [prisoners], as gang activity,'' if the other inmate, [prisoner], was already a, [an alleged], validated gang member, he noted.

Under conditions of the settlement, inmates, [prisoners], would have the right to dispute evidence. Prison officials also would have to detail how a piece of evidence indicates gang activity.

Regulations concerning inmates, [prisoners], who accuse other inmates, [prisoners], of gang activity also will be altered. The practice is referred to in a common prison phrase as one of three ways to leave the secured housing unit, [solitary confinement unit]: "Snitch, parole or die.''

Prison officials say the units are necessary to isolate troublemakers and members of gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Black Guerrilla Family, which they argue are behind most of the illegal drug trade and violence inside lockups.

But the units, which are used by the federal government and several other states, remain a continuing source of criticism. Groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned their use, and several studies have concluded the isolation in secured housing can create serious mental- health problems.

Oakland-based psychiatrist Terry Kupers, who has worked with hundreds of inmates, [prisoners], in secured housing, [solitary confinement], has written about an anxiety disorder he refers to as "SHU-induced mental illness.''

Others are even harsher in their assessments.

State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, who has been involved in legislative hearings on secured housing, [solitary confinement], and is a frequent critic of the Department of Corrections, offered a scathing critique of the department's use of secured housing.

"It's a department of destruction and torture, and SHU's are the most exaggerated example of their perversion,'' said Vasconcellos, who is carrying legislation this year to re-emphasize rehabilitation in the department's mission.

Inmates, [prisoners], in secured housing in California have about 90 minutes a day to shower or spend time in larger, outdoor caged areas. They are not allowed phone calls, family visits are difficult, and there is no educational or vocational programming.

By Mark Martin posted june 23 04

E-mail Mark Martin at markmartin@sfchronicle.com.

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