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| Inmates in solitary confinement need exercise, too |
| By burlington-record.com |
| Published: 12/30/2013 |
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Last year when a judge ordered prison officials to provide Troy Anderson at the Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) with outdoor exercise, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman said the ruling applied only to that prisoner. Never mind that everyone else at the facility in "administrative segregation" — that's solitary confinement to most of us — was also being deprived of the one hour at a time, three days a week outdoor exercise the judge demanded for Anderson. If Anderson could win a lawsuit against the state, presumably other prisoners could, too. Fortunately, despite the official stance, Colorado Department of Corrections officials apparently saw the writing on the wall as well. Executive Director Rick Raemisch is now considering three options to alleviate the exercise problem at the CSP, according to a Denver Post article last week. We're glad to see it. It was relatively easy to provide Anderson with outdoor exercise: The department simply transferred him to the Sterling Correctional Facility. But hundreds of inmates are in solitary at the CSP, and Raemisch has little choice but to find an answer for them since another lawsuit has been filed — one that seeks class-action status. The lawsuit maintains that prisoners spend 23 hours in cells about 80 square feet and that the exercise room is a cell only slightly larger. "Except when immediately adjacent to the small open grate, inmates cannot feel the wind; they cannot feel the sun on their face; they cannot feel the rain or the snow," the suit says. "This claustrophobic room contains only a pull-up bar, and there is no opportunity for inmates to run, except in a small circle." Read More. |
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