V.Diaz
CJC 141
Mr. Wilson
27 Mar 2014

Control Unit Prisons Built to house the “worst of the worst” control units and control unit prisons have exploded throughout the system as a means to house, monitor, and control the most violent, rebellious, and unmanageable of prisoners within the system. Or do they? The article “From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence: Control Unit Prisons in the U.S.” paints a striking picture that reveals many of the inhumane practices used in these prisons, which are more often than not used on individuals who are far from the “worst” and also illustrates the bending, reclassification, and creation of rules that make it possible to do so. According to the article prisoners at Marion, Pelican Bay, Lebanon and similar facilities spend as little as an hour outside of their tiny cells (From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence) for exercise, recreation, and shower and then spend the rest of their day in total isolation without any meaningful human contact, often in a completely dark and air deprived cell with a solid steel door and without windows (From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence). What seems incredible is that any attempt at rehabilitation has been replaced with what almost amounts to “torture” practices. Some of these inmates will one day walk amongst us in society and the levels of mental abuse that they have been subjected to will definitely come back to haunt us. It is a known fact as studies have shown that isolation alone for prolonged periods of time is enough to degrade the mind to the point where a person becomes catatonic and unresponsive and they can no longer function normally (Hellhole). In an article in The New Yorker by Atul Awande titled “Hellhole” he writes how Senator John McCain a former P.O.W who was frequently abused brutally refers to the social isolation as “crushing the spirit and weakens your resistance more than any form of torture” (Hellhole). Similarly journalist Terry Anderson who spent seven years as a Hezbollah hostage in Lebanon, often in isolation for long stretches, remembers that at the time he couldn’t control his emotions and even began having hallucinations. He couldn’t read or concentrate, as he wrote in his memoir “the mind is a blank. Jesus, I always thought I was smart. Where are all the things I learned, the books I read, the poems I memorized? There’s nothing there, just a formless, gray-black misery. My mind’s gone dead. God, help me” (Hellhole). And prisoners are not the only ones affected by the conditions in these facilities. Sgt. Garry Harkins, a retired correctional officer at Oregon’s State Penitentiary stated that like the inmates he would go days “months without seeing sunlight” going in just before the sun comes up and coming out at nighttime. Harkin says that “he couldn’t get away from the job” (Working the Isolation Unit) and would relive or dream about something that happened at work. After a while working in the segregation unit he began to feel “trapped” just like the inmates he was guarding (Working the Isolation Unit). The article makes it clear that of the three major claims made by officials about the functions or purpose served by these facilities not one of them have any merit to it. Control units for the most part do not house “the worst” of the inmate population which in turn does not reduce the violence at other prisons simply because violent inmates are still housed at these other facilities, which in turn does not allow security to be relaxed either. So if none of their claims are true and rehabilitation is out of the question what really is the purpose of these controls units; is it profit, cheap labor, warehousing of inmates, abuse, torture, justice? As Sgt. Harkins stated "Those people are going to be your neighbors some day and if our system is maintaining people in a negative, antisocial way, we're not doing ourselves any good. We're not doing society any good."

Works Cited
Committee to End the Marion Lockdown.“From Alcatraz toMarion to Florence-Control Units in the U.S.” Umass.edu. 27 Mar 2013. Web. <http://people.umass.edu/~kastor/ceml_articles/cu_in_us.html>
Gawande, Atul. “Hellhole.” NewYorker.com. 27 Mar 2013. Web. < http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande>
Sullivan, Laura.“Working the Isolation Unit: A Prison Officer’s Tale.” Npr.org. 27 Mar 2013. Web.
< http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5589233>