ISOLATION UNITS REVIEW INADEQUATE, NEW REPORT SAYS

A study has found shortcomings with the process intended to serve as a check on new units for isolating federal prisoners from the general jail population. In response to criticism of solitary confinement, the government ushered in “structured intervention units” for inmates requiring isolation to allow better access to programming and mental-health care. Prisoners transferred to the units are supposed to be allowed out of their cells for four hours each day, with two of those hours engaged in “meaningful human contact.” According to the

Correctional Service, personnel known as independent external decision makers review inmate cases and provide binding recommendations. However, a new study says the reviews are “not adequate,” and it cites a lack of information about the nature of the information used by the decision makers, the logic behind their findings and the implementation of their decisions. The study was prepared by criminologists Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott and law professor Adelina Iftene using data provided by the Correctional Service.