[The following was taken from an e-mail I got from H.E.A.R.D.]
Reassessing Solitary Confinement:
The Human Rights, Fiscal, and Public Safety Consequences
Hearing Before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights
Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
Description: U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate’s Assistant Majority Leader, will chair a hearing on the human rights, fiscal, and public safety consequences of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers. This is the first-ever Congressional hearing on solitary confinement. Over the last several decades, the United States has witnessed an explosion in the use of solitary confinement for federal, state, and local prisoners and detainees. The hearing will explore the psychological and psychiatric impact on inmates during and after their imprisonment, the higher costs of running solitary housing units, the human rights issues surrounding the use of isolation, and successful state reforms in this area.
This hearing is open to the public. The list of witnesses will be announced on a future date.
Chairman Durbin invites interested advocates and experts to submit written testimony to be included in the hearing record. Statements should be less than 10 pages, and should be emailed to Nicholas Deml at [email protected] as early as possible, but no later than Friday, June 15, 2012 at 5:00 PM.
Senator Dick Durbin is Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights was formed by merging the Constitution Subcommittee and the Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee, which Senator Durbin previously chaired. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over all constitutional issues, and all legislation and policy related to civil rights, civil liberties and human rights. The Ranking Member of the Subcommittee is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).