A bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed this week to overhaul Minnesota’s use of solitary confinement in prisons, including prohibiting the controversial punishment for nonviolent inmates, mandating more legislative oversight and banning it outright for those with severe mental illnesses.
Minnesota currently has no laws directly addressing the use of solitary, known formally as “restrictive housing.” If successful, the proposals would mean a significant departure from how the state’s correctional facilities have used the punishment over the past decade and, according to proponents, bring Minnesota more in line with reforms happening around the nation.
Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, who authored the bill in the House, said he was troubled to learn in a Star Tribune report that inmates with mental illnesses were routinely being sent to long-term isolation, a practice that can cause devastating psychological effects. He’s since been working with mental health advocates and corrections officials to come up with policy changes that better serve the well-being of prisoners.
[For more of this story, written by Andy Mannix, go to http://www.startribune.com/leg...tally-ill/412749603/]
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