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Colorado Opens New Asylum For Mentally Ill |
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Written by administrator
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Apr 23, 2010 at 10:30 PM |
It has been decided by a unanimous vote in the Joint Budget Committee in Colorado, that money will be allocated to open one tower of CSPII with a budget of 9.5 million dollars. One unit of persons currently housed at CSPI will be moved into the new tower at CSPII. This will open a unit at CSPI which is designated as the new mental health treatment unit. The full budgetary request from Director Ari Zavaras was $10.8 million dollars. This will leave 1.3 million dollars to be directed toward the newly created mentally ill treatment pod at CSPI.
The DOC has repeatedly requested budget allocations for a mental health treatment facility and has laid out other proposals to accomplish this. These plans included changes to facilities at Fremont Corrections, Centennial Corrections and Sterling Corrections. In those plans were requests to change out doors to full iron doors with tray slots at the bottom, elimination of double bunking, special covers for smoke detectors and other assorted requests.
In other words, the Department of Corrections was trying to implement and create more administrative segregation beds within the facilities that were currently operating. However, it is widely known and well documented that administrative segregation or solitary confinement further exacerbates any mental illness. As a matter of fact it is widely known and well documented that administrative segregation or solitary confinement CREATES mental illness.
From a report submitted to the Prison Commission:
In addition, solitary confinement often results in severe exacerbation of a previously existing mental condition, or in the appearance of a mental illness where none had been observed before. Even among inmates who do not develop overt psychiatric illness as a result of confinement in solitary, such confinement almost inevitably imposes significant psychological pain during the period of isolated confinement and often significantly impairs the inmate’s capacity to adapt successfully to the broader prison environment.
Moreover, although many of the acute symptoms suffered by these inmates are likely to subside upon termination of solitary confinement, many — including some who did not become overtly psychiatrically ill during their confinement in solitary — will likely suffer permanent harm as a result of such confinement. This harm is most commonly manifested by a continued intolerance of social interaction, a handicap which often prevents the inmate from successfully readjusting to the broader social environment of general population in prison and, perhaps more significantly, often severely impairs the inmate’s capacity to reintegrate into the broader community upon release from imprisonment. (To read the entire report click on this link )http://www.prisoncommission.org/statements/grassian_stuart_long.pdf Dr. Grassian’s report covers more that imprisonment and solitary confinement. It also covers the dark history of this countries treatment of the mentally ill, the dark history of penitentiaries and the studies of the effects of sensory deprivation.
However, it is reported that Mr. Zavaras does not agree with these mental health professionals or the long studied effects of solitary confinement on human beings. It is reported that he will release new findings in June that shows solitary confinement has no effect on mentally ill persons.
Mr. Zavaras has also stated to the committee that incidents of violence and assaults have increased within the correctional institutions to further support his need for these administrative segregation beds. However, the statistics that the Department of Corrections releases to the public do not verify this statement. It was, however, enough to sway members of the committee. Rep. Mark Ferrandino stated, “We can both agree that actions have to be taken to improve the prison system in Colorado. For the purpose of rehabilitating individuals residing in the prison system, there has to be a safe environment for the inmates and corrections officers, segregation of violent and non-violent individuals, and also improvement of treatment programs to help reduce recidivism of parolees. After listening to the testimony of the DoC, I agree that we need to open CSP II to accomplish these goals.” Senator Moe Keller, “I have been having on going conversations with the Director, Ari Zavaras, and the mental health community. The DOC has been requesting for many years now, a second facility specifically designed for treatment of the mentally ill. Due to costs, the legislature has never funded the amount of money necessary for such a facility. This proposal, Amendment 10, is a request to move the most violent inmates (two thirds or more are not mentally ill) to CSP 2 ad/seg beds, thus freeing up a pod at CSP1 to be a new mental health treatment unit. (Some of our segregated inmates have a mental illness and are placed in these cells due to violence against staff or other inmates, or for suicide watch and prevention. Ad/seg can be short term, around 10 days, or longer term.)
However, others members of the House were not so easily convinced. Rep Clare Levy, “Now, for general commentary on items of note. The Department of Corrections has a brand new prison sitting empty and wants over $10 million dollars to open one tower, which would add 316 prison beds to the system. The prison is known as CSPII, which stands for Colorado State Penitentiary II, and was built to house offenders in solitary confinement (called “Ad Seg” for administrative segregation). Some are questioning whether the Department of Corrections needs that space given that 35% of the existing 750 Ad Seg beds in CSP I are occupied by offenders with diagnosed mental illnesses. Placing offenders with mental illnesses in Ad Seg has been found to violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment in two different federal circuits because of the effect of solitary confinement on the mentally ill. There are concerns that Ad Seg is being used for the mentally ill because programing cuts have taken away other less restrictive ways of addressing behavior problems. ” (You can view Rep. Levy’s newsletter, click on the link) http://clairelevy.org/?Newsletter
It seems that after the public voted against the funding and the building of CSPII the government of this state still found a way to get it done (at our expense). It seems that even though there are more humane choices and practices, our governement still chooses to treat people inhumanely (at our expense). It seems that as we are looking for ways to rehabilitate, restore, rebuild and re-tool our communities, our government chooses to implement practices that erode our communities and our humanity (at our expense).
There is another report that is being presented for consideration on the national level. This document lists all of the violations of international treaty that are happening in the United State and the resulting violation of human rights. Included in this list of violation is the practice of Juvenile Life Without Parole, Sentencing Policies and the issue of the use of Solitary Confinement and Administrative Segregation. Read On….
Attached please find a report on U.S. juvenile and criminal justice practices
that violate international human rights treaties, authored by the Campaign for
the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Drug Policy Alliance, Justice Now, and The
Sentencing Project. This report will be submitted for the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR), which is an evaluation of UN members’ compliance with their treaty obligations that is done every four years. If you support the report’s
recommendations, we urge you to sign on to endorse the report. UPR_CJ_Cluster_Report.pdf
Our report recommends the following reforms to U.S. juvenile and criminal justice practices:
1. Sentencing Practices
Racially Disparate Sentencing
· End all mandatory sentencing practices.
· Amend penalties for crack cocaine to be equivalent with those for powder
cocaine, and eliminate similar egregious sentencing disparities.
· Mandate the preparation of racial/ethnic impact statements to be submitted in
conjunction with proposed sentencing and corrections legislation.
Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentencing
· Abolish the practice of sentencing people under age 18 to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
· Provide meaningful review of the sentences of people currently serving life
without parole for crimes committed under age 18 after they have served 10
years, and every three years thereafter, to determine whether they have been
rehabilitated and may return to the community.
Collateral Consequences of Felony Convictions
· End implementation of all practices of collateral consequences for drug
convictions.
· Reinstate benefits for individuals with prior drug convictions.
2. Conditions of Confinement
Violations of Incarcerated Women’s Reproductive Rights
· Cease performing sterilizations in the prison setting and comply with
domestic and international law prohibiting the use of federal funds for
sterilization in the incarceration settings.
· End the practice of shackling of incarcerated pregnant women, including in
transport to and from the hospital setting.
Treatment of Mentally Ill Prisoners
· Develop and implement quality screening methodology to identify mental
illness at prison intake in order to provide treatment as needed.
· Define minimum standards for mental health treatment of those inmates.
Confinement in Super-Maximum Security (Supermax) Prisons
· Cease the placement of vulnerable inmates, including the mentally ill,
in solitary confinement conditions where less punitive alternatives are
available.
· House prisoners in the least restrictive unit possible, in order to cease
the expansion of supermax confinement.
In Colorado, our government chooses to violate these agreements….(at our expense). Decisions in this state should be to further morality, eithics, accountability, truth, reformation and restoration….not destruction.
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