US 'supermax' prison is condemned internationally for its abusive regime | Sadhbh Walshe

boss BOP does not seem to notice as ADX Florence faces a class action lawsuit filed by inmates with mental disorders

In 1990, John Jay Powers was sentenced to prison for stealing a bank. Once there, he saw murder of another inmate and began to suffer from post-traumatic stress. In 2001, after a brief attempt to escape, was transferred to the administrative authority Maximum (ADX) Florence, only a maximum security federal prisons, where inmates are housed in conditions of extreme isolation that prison is known, not a lot of love, like Alcatraz "Rocky Mountain".

Before ADX, Powers had no history or symptoms of mental illness, but as it was installed, it became unbalanced and has participated in numerous acts of self-mutilation, including including the amputation of his testicle and scrotum, bite your finger and try to commit suicide several times.

To give you an idea of ??why a previously healthy person would fall into the madness of ADX, you do not look beyond the circumstances of their detention. ADX was designed to ensure complete isolation of all prisoners are held in cells the size of a normal bath. The cells have thick concrete walls, a soundproof door with bars and a steel door strong second. The only means of communication with other human beings is crying in the toilet bowl and hoping that someone would hear. Interns take place in the cell 24/7 for two days a week. In the other five days they can spend an hour in a cage of similar size in what is known as laughing "outdoor" recreation. By its own policy, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) excludes ADX mentally ill, but it seems that many mentally ill prisoners get there because of a poor selection process - and they are not always healthy for get tend to stay for long.

Powers is one of 11 prisoners of ADX Florence named in a federal lawsuit filed against the BOP on July 18 this year, alleging mistreatment and abuse of prisoners with mental disorders are often misdiagnosed (if diagnosed at all) and then denied appropriate care. It comes at a time of growing pressure from the international community, including the UN Commission for Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. However, the balance of payments, which would not comment on pending litigation, it has been demonstrated by its front and back, unconscious actions that are, at best, and at worst indifferent to the charges.

To give an idea of ??the kind to forget that I'm talking about, you need to look beyond a note with the line "Suicide Prevention" subject that has been sent by Charles Samuels, Director of Federal Prison Bureau, two days after the lawsuit was filed, all inmates in the federal system - including staying in solitary confinement in ADX. In the note, Samuels, sounding like a social worker in question, urged inmates who may feel suicidal to try to see the good side of things. Below is an excerpt:

• "Incarceration is difficult for many people Many people experience a range of emotions - .. Sadness, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger or shame can sometimes feel hopeless about their future and their thoughts can turn. Suicide If you are unable to think of a solution other than suicide is not because the solutions do not exist. 'S because now we can not see them not to lose hope solutions can be found, the feelings change, unexpected positive. events. Looking for meaning and purpose in the education and treatment, faith, work, and family and friends. "
Samuels continues to urge suicidal inmates to use psychologists, counseling and other services seem to think are available to them. Now, it may be noted at their nominal value as a genuine attempt to boost the morale of prisoners who are in a bad mood. But if we consider that the note was addressed to prisoners, many of whom Samuel recognized in the last paragraph, "you can read this message for a special housing unit or special management unit cell" (all euphemisms containment only) and that prisoners are experiencing suicidal feelings are much more likely to be a direct consequence of the fact that they are housed in segregation units such as for existential reasons, it is difficult not to be cynical . It is even more difficult when one learns that Samuels himself seems to have a vague idea at best as to what type of advisory services to inmates have access, if necessary.

A month before the memorandum was published, Samuel said at a hearing of the Senate subcommittee on isolation, during which he said that "no negative effect" of isolation prisoners. He took his answer to a direct question by Senator Durbin on ADX prisoners access to psychologists.

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