Topic 1: Solitary confinement is the act of restraining a prisoner for up to twenty-four hours in a windowless cell without any human contact. The United States of America has implemented solitary confinement in the nineteenth century. Often, like prison inmates of the past, prisoners today had to endure inhumane conditions during their sentences. According to Duke B., an inmate of the Pelican State Bay Prison in Crescent City, California, “Inmates in CSW was reported to be limited to only one pair of socks to wear.” He also stated that they were also subjected to two pairs of undergarments that are taped to their bodies as well as ill-fitting chains on their legs leading to the loss of blood circulation. Similarly, there were other testimonies …show more content…
Researchers have found that inmates are prone to be highly anxious with confused thought processes, nervous, and tired. Physical effects also included insomnia, heart palpitations, and high levels of hypertension. Inmates were also found to isolate themselves from others, experience emotional indifference, succumb to chronic depression as well as having suicidal tendencies, irrational anger, and feelings of overall …show more content…
An inmate from Riker’s Island was interviewed and talked about the time he was forced to clean up piles of human skin that came from another inmate who was scalded in the night prior. The New York Times reported that one hundred twenty-nine prisoners were beaten beyond health treatment by medical professionals. Prison medics are not new to the abuse of the convicted, especially in the case of Leonard Peltier. Convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of two police officers, Peltier was given two consecutive life sentences in April 1977. In his youth, Leonard Peltier was diagnosed with tetanus, a bacterial infection that causes muscle spasms in jaw and neck muscles. During his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Central Florida, Peltier’s tetanus developed into full-blown lockjaw. He was referred to an oral surgeon in 1995 and was transferred to a medical facility in Missouri to get the treatment that was needed. According to an article by Preston Randolph, an advocate for the freedom of Leonard Peltier and Human Rights Activist, the medical records of Peltier stated that he was not to leave the facility until he regained the ability to chew. Despite the lack of ability to do so, Peltier was still transferred back to the United States