Death or solitary confinement?

[Embalmer]

I would encourage anyone thinking about solitary confinement to Google the name Tommy Silverstein. The US government has tortured this man by keeping him in solitary confinement for about 30 years now.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-25/j...ll?_s=PM:CRIME

[InsomniaCT]

You can also go the aclu web site as they are working to abolish both capital punishment and solitary confinement. I can't pick one over the other; this is vengeance disguised as punishment. By choosing one I am saying either is a legitimate course.

[Lonzo's Lady..]

I'm a Reg. Nurse with 21 years of working experience; the past few years I've spent working as the Director of Emergency Room Nursing Service at one of Dallas's largest Level IV Trauma Centers. We treat car accidents, heart attacks, stabbings, shootings, drug overdoses, suicides, murders, child abuse victims, burn victims and anything else you can imagine or think of. My patients range in age from minutes old infants born prematurely during the ride over, to the very elderly; all races, both sexes, and every religion and nationality under the sun. In addition to the above I've also seen my share of deaths from natural causes. Having said that while both choices listed here are IMO very cruel forms of punishment, nothing that I know of leaves as many people as sad as my Staff and/or myself having to notify various family members, parents, children, spouses, friends, co-workers, ex's, neighbors, teachers, or complete strangers, like us Nurses, of the death of someone...ANYONE.
I feel where there is life, there is HOPE; but thats just my opinion. A guy I treated in the E.R. a week ago who was admitted with Stage IV liver cancer might and (most likely) will die in the next few days but until he actually does he and his loved ones still have hope, that small glimmer of light that they can all cling to.
I think there is a reason that even with all of our education and training we Medical Professionals can not say exactly when a person will die. I've never looked at a patient no matter how hopeless and dire the situation and said even to myself," he'll be dead at 8:37 p.m." I also don't want that ability... I like that ONLY GOD KNOWS...I hate that certain Inmates b/c of their crime DO KNOW; IT IS ARRANGED AND THEY ARE TOLD. I hate it for everyone involved with him or her. That, IMO is the MOST CRUEL thing in the world...Marcia

[Embalmer]

Originally Posted by Lonzo's Lady..

I'm a Reg. Nurse with 21 years of working experience; the past few years I've spent working as the Director of Emergency Room Nursing Service at one of Dallas's largest Level IV Trauma Centers. We treat car accidents, heart attacks, stabbings, shootings, drug overdoses, suicides, murders, child abuse victims, burn victims and anything else you can imagine or think of. My patients range in age from minutes old infants born prematurely during the ride over, to the very elderly; all races, both sexes, and every religion and nationality under the sun. In addition to the above I've also seen my share of deaths from natural causes. Having said that while both choices listed here are IMO very cruel forms of punishment, nothing that I know of leaves as many people as sad as my Staff and/or myself having to notify various family members, parents, children, spouses, friends, co-workers, ex's, neighbors, teachers, or complete strangers, like us Nurses, of the death of someone...ANYONE.
I feel where there is life, there is HOPE; but thats just my opinion. A guy I treated in the E.R. a week ago who was admitted with Stage IV liver cancer might and (most likely) will die in the next few days but until he actually does he and his loved ones still have hope, that small glimmer of light that they can all cling to.
I think there is a reason that even with all of our education and training we Medical Professionals can not say exactly when a person will die. I've never looked at a patient no matter how hopeless and dire the situation and said even to myself," he'll be dead at 8:37 p.m." I also don't want that ability... I like that ONLY GOD KNOWS...I hate that certain Inmates b/c of their crime DO KNOW; IT IS ARRANGED AND THEY ARE TOLD. I hate it for everyone involved with him or her. That, IMO is the MOST CRUEL thing in the world...Marcia

This was beautiful. Thank you.

[inmate514]

I have spent only a couple months in Ad Seg (ONLY, hah!) but I would rather do a life term in the hole than get executed. As long as there's life, there's hope. And I learned that humans are an unbelievably adaptive species. Unless youre a terrorist or something, you shouldnt be kept for life in solitary/ad seg.

[Deirdre13]

Originally Posted by Embalmer

I would encourage anyone thinking about solitary confinement to Google the name Tommy Silverstein. The US government has tortured this man by keeping him in solitary confinement for about 30 years now.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-25/j...ll?_s=PM:CRIME

old thread i know but i wanted to reply to this post as well as answer the question. i believe that anyone given the chance would rather be alive than dead,no matter if you are locked in ad seg or solitary. as far as people being locked up for 30 years...this guy referred to by embalmer is not by far the only or even the last to be locked in solitary thus being tortured. many have been in for the same amount and some much longer.

[Embalmer]

Originally Posted by Deirdre13

old thread i know but i wanted to reply to this post as well as answer the question. i believe that anyone given the chance would rather be alive than dead,no matter if you are locked in ad seg or solitary. as far as people being locked up for 30 years...this guy referred to by embalmer is not by far the only or even the last to be locked in solitary thus being tortured. many have been in for the same amount and some much longer.

I never suggested that Tommy Silverstein was "the only or even the last to be locked in solitary."

I used Tommy Silverstein as only as one example of a person being tortured in solitary confinement.

[SusanWayward]

Yeah, but what happened with Tommy Silverstein is significant in the Federal prison system, since the desire to severely punish him for the murder of a guard inspired the creation of "super max" Federal prisons.

He already had LWOP and was assigned to the highest security level when he murdered the guard - hence, BOP wanted to create a "special place in hell" where he could serve out the remainder of his sentence, and the Supermax was born.

I had to Wikipedia his name because I thought he might have been in solitary since the 70's but no, it is since 1983, so 30 years.

[lisainengland]

Please can we get this thread back on topic. We are not here to discuss just one inmates sentence.

[CvD]

In my opinion solitary confinement is just a different kind of death sentence and thatfore both need to be abolished.