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A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 27 december 2019
California jails use kinder approach to solitary confinement

By DON THOMPSON correct, and I think it's work-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ing."
— An inmate in solitary con- Smith said she remains con-
finement at a California jail cerned that assaults on
was refusing to leave his staff are up. She said the
cell. The jailers' usual re- increase is logical, how-
sponse: Send an "extrac- ever, since inmates locked
tion team" of corrections in their cells virtually around
officers to burst into the cell the clock have little oppor-
and drag him out. tunity to assault anyone.
But not in Contra Costa Sgt. Todd Kendrick, presi-
County, one of three in the dent of the county's correc-
state using a kinder, gen- tional officers association,
tler approach in response attributed the increase to
to inmate lawsuits, a policy other less restrictive jail poli-
change that experts say cies as well as the easing
could be a national model of solitary confinement. He
for reducing the use of iso- and Smith both called for
lation cells. increased staffing.
So the inmate was asked: Smith said the county fell
"What if we gave you a into a pattern of protec-
couple extra cookies and tively isolating inmates
another sandwich? Would to separate purported
you move?" recalled Don gang members and those
Specter, the nonprofit Pris- charged with murder and
on Law Office director who to safeguard jailhouse in-
negotiated the new poli- formants or sex offend-
cies. "He said yes. ... They In this photo taken on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, an inmate looks out a window in his solitary confine- ers for fear they would be
were like, 'Wow.'" ment cell at the Main Jail in San Jose, Calif. harmed. Officials sought to
More than a quarter of U.S. Associated Press improve after several major
states and numerous small- incidents, including deaths
er jurisdictions are looking ber, after officials began most often segregated for spend time with about a in custody.
for ways to reduce the use using the new approach. nonviolent "nuisance in- half-dozen other inmates. Like most jails, three-quar-
of solitary confinement, ac- Sacramento County also fractions" like smoking, curs- "There's been a decades- ters or more of inmates
cording to the Vera Institute is following the policy pio- ing, disobeying orders or long effort to reform soli- had not been convicted
of Justice, which encour- neered by Santa Clara having unauthorized items tary, especially in prisons. of a crime and yet spent
ages alternatives to a prac- County, while Fresno Coun- from the commissary, said But what we haven't seen months and sometimes
tice behavioral experts say ty is considering it. Among the Vera Institute's Sara Sul- is a paired reform effort for years awaiting trial in isola-
is dehumanizing and can other things, it encourages livan. jails," said Amy Fettig, direc- tion. Under the new policy,
worsen mental illness. the use of low-cost incen- Santa Clara County once tor of the American Civil "it's really our philosophy to
The new policies in Califor- tives to reward good be- locked a woman in solitary Liberty Union's Stop Solitary use that when it's absolutely
nia came after Specter's havior, like the opportunity confinement for 2 1/2 years campaign. "In Santa Clara necessary, when there's ex-
firm sued seven of Califor- to listen to the radio, watch for talking back to correc- what we're seeing is an at- traordinary risk," Smith said.
nia's 58 counties, alleging a movie or get an extra tional officers or yelling and tempt to reform the whole Jail employees work to get
that conditions had grown snack. banging on her cell door process." inmates out of segregation
inhumane as jails absorbed Sacramento County has with other detainees, ac- Long-term isolation can as quickly as possible, often
inmates who previously cut its isolated population cording to Specter's law- be so debilitating, Fet- using a system in which in-
would have served their roughly in half, to about suit. tig said, that she's had cli- mates agree, in writing, not
sentences in state prisons. 60 inmates, said Lt. Alex The California counties' ents cut themselves "just to to assault each other.
The state in 2011 began McCamy: "It's a limited time new policy of restricting its feel something because One inmate refused for
sending less serious offend- frame and a limited group, use to continued violent they've become numb." 1½ years to leave solitary
ers to local jails for years at but the initial impression is behavior could be seen as Santa Clara County, home because he had testified
a time to ease crowding in positive." a national pilot program, to San Jose and Silicon Val- against other gang mem-
state penitentiaries. Rick Raemisch, who restrict- Sullivan said. ley, once had 400 inmates bers, recalled Capt. Thom-
Some jurisdictions nation- ed the use of solitary con- New Jersey's Middlesex in solitary confinement. as Duran, who coordinates
wide are banning isolation finement when he headed County Adult Correction Specter's client in Santa the program.
for young offenders, preg- Colorado's prison system, Center has lowered the Clara County had been But he saw other longtime
nant women or those with said the violent, tense, dirty number of isolated inmates in solitary confinement for inmates leaving segrega-
mental health diagnoses. conditions in Santa Clara and the time they spend nearly five years. tion and eventually agreed
The California counties' ap- County's jail improved there, she said, but with a By last fall there were about to try it. Rather than put him
proach of generally limiting markedly with the new pol- different approach that 40 inmates confined to iso- immediately in with other
it to those who engage in icy. lets inmates out of their lation cells for an average inmates, deputies paired
continued violent behavior "Think of yourself being in cells more frequently. of about two months, and him with a single inmate
has dramatically reduced a cell the size of a parking The Hampden County Cor- just 26 by December. — then two other inmates,
the number of inmates in space for 23 hours a day," rectional Center in Massa- Santa Clara County Sheriff then four and so on.
isolation and the length of said Raemisch, who con- chusetts increased its use of Laurie Smith said she and He spent more and more
time they stay there. sulted with county officials. alternative sanctions and many deputies were initial- time out of his solitary cell
Contra Costa started 2019 "At a minimum you're go- positive reinforcement. ly skeptical. until he was fully back into
with about 100 people in ing to get angry, and when And Cook County, Illinois, "It has surprised me, and the general jail population.
solitary, most for more than you get angry you're going no longer keeps trouble- I think it's very, very good "We're trying to set the in-
a year. It had just three in to fight back." some inmates in isolation, for our inmates," she said. mates up not to fail," Duran
isolation cells by Decem- Inmates nationwide are allowing them to regularly "I think what we're doing is said.q