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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis Prisoner's Note Isn't From Some Dystopian Dictatorship. It's From Texas.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights-criminal-law-reform-human-rights/prisoners-note-isnt-some-dystopian-dictatorshEvery day from dusk to dawn there's noise, banging, clanking, yelling, screaming. Everyday someone is getting hurt or hurting themselves. Everyday there's fire and floods and complete chaos & hate
Every day is a challenge here. A challenge against insanity.
This sounds like a dispatch from a war zone or a maybe a line from some post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, but it's actually the description of a typical day in solitary confinement for Alex, a prisoner in Texas....
It isn't hard to figure out why, when you know the dehumanizing conditions Alex lives in. His barren, windowless cell is the size of a bathroom. When he spreads his arms, his fingertips almost graze the walls. His cell door is made of solid metal with a slot for a food tray. Two thin slits also adorn the door, so officers can see him. Weeks pass when Alex doesn't even see another person's face or look another human being in the eyes. He hasn't seen the stars in 10 years....
In the face of these stark and dehumanizing conditions, Alex is trying to bring meaning to his life. He is trying to survive. But the screams from his neighbors' cells and the madness of the solitary unit get to him. He is afraid that he will go insane before going home. Many of his counterparts have already given into the madness.
This sounds like a dispatch from a war zone or a maybe a line from some post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, but it's actually the description of a typical day in solitary confinement for Alex, a prisoner in Texas....
It isn't hard to figure out why, when you know the dehumanizing conditions Alex lives in. His barren, windowless cell is the size of a bathroom. When he spreads his arms, his fingertips almost graze the walls. His cell door is made of solid metal with a slot for a food tray. Two thin slits also adorn the door, so officers can see him. Weeks pass when Alex doesn't even see another person's face or look another human being in the eyes. He hasn't seen the stars in 10 years....
In the face of these stark and dehumanizing conditions, Alex is trying to bring meaning to his life. He is trying to survive. But the screams from his neighbors' cells and the madness of the solitary unit get to him. He is afraid that he will go insane before going home. Many of his counterparts have already given into the madness.
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This Prisoner's Note Isn't From Some Dystopian Dictatorship. It's From Texas. (Original Post)
KamaAina
Feb 2015
OP
"Department of Corrections" makes about as much sense as "Department of Defense".
KamaAina
Feb 2015
#3
You say it's not from a dystopian dictatorship but then you say it's from Texas.
hifiguy
Feb 2015
#2
grasswire
(50,130 posts)1. kick
I've visited such units, as a prison reformation activist. Cruel and unusual punishment. And I've read thousands of letters from Texas prisoners.
Not enough people care that most offenders will be released back into society without any positive "correction."
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)3. "Department of Corrections" makes about as much sense as "Department of Defense".
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)2. You say it's not from a dystopian dictatorship but then you say it's from Texas.
Which has been a dystopian Repuke dictatorship for going on twenty years. Does not compute.
Seriously though, this is horrifying.