To: Secretary of Public Safety, Mayor Menino, The Massachusetts State House, The Massachusetts State Senate, and Governor Charlie Baker
Demand the state of Massachusetts investigate and stop the abuse of segregation (Special Manageme...
We, the undersigned residents of Massachusetts, demand that the State of Massachusetts does a thorough, independent investigation of the use, misuse and abuse of the policies of Disciplinary Detention (24 hrs per day, segregation in Special Management Units for a maximum 30 days ONLY) and Administrative Segregation (23 hrs per day in cell) in our Department of Corrections facilities. We also demand that the appropriate modifications to these practices, many of which qualify as torture, be made immediately. It is widely known that the arbitrary use of segregation for non-violent actions, and the arbitrary lengths of segregation from several months to years, are commonplace abuses of power in all our corrections facilities, and are counterproductive to rehabilitation, inhumane, dangerous to the inmates, correctional officers and society, and illegal by DOC regulations, our state laws, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Why is this important?
For years, inmates have been emotionally abused and tortured by being put in segregation for months and years, which is against the DOC's own regulations of a maximum of 30 days. Administrative Segregation, being made to stay in ones cell for 23 hours a day for months, is also counterproductive to rehabilitation, inhumane, and illegal. It is used, among other times, for the first 6 months of arriving in any facility. The sensory deprivation and degradation worsens the mental and physical condition of the individual who is supposed to be receiving services to return to society a healthier person.