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| Mississippi rethinks solitary confinement |
| By cbsnews.com - Randall Pinkston, Phil Hirschkorn |
| Published: 05/20/2013 |
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(CBS News) PARCHMAN, Miss. - In 1990, when former prison guard Christopher Epps was the deputy superintendent at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in rural Parchman, he oversaw the construction of a maximum security wing to keep troublesome inmates in solitary confinement. It was called Unit 32, and it housed up to 1,000 men inside eight-foot by ten-foot cells 23 hours a day. Their amenities were a concrete bunk, a tiny metal writing table, and a steel sink and toilet. They ate meals alone in their cells and got out only for exercise and a shower. "That was the culture that we were taught, and we grew up in. Obviously, that's all changed now," Epps said in an interview. What's changed for Epps and a growing number of prison professionals around the country is their dimming view of the effectiveness and expense of solitary confinement, as well as the realization of its mental and physical toll on inmates. Read More. |
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