Over the past 25 years, the number and percentage of prisoners held in isolation has exploded at both state and federal penitentiaries. NEAL CONAN, HOST: This is TALK OF THE NATION. For other uses, prior permission required. It charges the government violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.Ĭopyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. George Welborn, first warden at Tamms Correctional Center in IllinoisĪ lawsuit alleges severe abuse of federal prisoners at ADX-Florence in Colorado, what’s known as a supermax facility where many inmates are housed in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. Walter Dickey, professor, University of Wisconsin Law School Laura Sullivan, investigative correspondent, NPR The Grim Realities Of Life In Supermax Prisons
