Colorado legislature advances restrictions on solitary confinement

[Ichingcarpenter]

DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado lawmakers approved legislation on Monday that limits the use of solitary confinement for prison inmates, a year after the state's corrections chief was killed by a parolee who spent the bulk of his sentence in solitary.

The bipartisan measure, passed by a 63-2 vote in the state House of Representatives, would require that the case of any prisoner held in isolation be reviewed every 90 days.

The measure would also establish a gradual step-down process for inmates held in solitary, or administrative segregation, before their release.

The proposal, which has already cleared the state Senate, will now go to Governor John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign the bill into law.

The Colorado chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement praising lawmakers for "banning the cruel, costly, and unlawful practice of warehousing prisoners with serious mental illness in long-term solitary confinement."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-colorado-prisons-20140428,0,1467173.story

[pipoman]

1. Colorado is a prison state...since it was a territory

Doubtful this applies to Federal facilities.

The larger issue to me would be a policy of segregation of inmates who just wish to serve their sentences peacefully, and prepare for release, away from the prison victimizers.