AP: NY to Mandate That Jailed Prisoners Get 4+ Hours Outside Solitary Confinement

NYAPRS Note: Great thanks to Governor Cuomo for issuing new regulations requiring that all prisoners held in solitary confinement in local jails will get 4 hours a day outside their cells. This represents a groundbreaking move from a purely punitive approach to one that allows for rehabilitation. Previous litigation and legislation in NYS resulted in restrictions on the use of solitary confinement in state prisons for people with serious mental health conditions.
Thanks to Governor Cuomo, all individuals confined in jails will get some relief from the traumatizing inhumane policy that has been deemed "impractical as well as immoral" and that "harms prisoners, costs too much, and leads to more crime." There is also considerable evidence about the connect between solitary confinement and suicide.

See more at https://goo.gl/yuiirx. NYAPRS is supporting NYS 'HALT' legislation that will ban the use of solitary confinement for a number of groups, including people with mental health conditions.

NY To Set New Rules for Solitary Confinement in Local Jails
The Associated PressOctober 16, 2017

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York is poised to adopt new standards for the treatment of prisoners held in solitary confinement in local jails.

The state's Commission on Corrections is expected to approve the new rules Tuesday. The changes come at the urging of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The new regulations will mandate that all prisoners held in solitary at local jails get at least four hours of time outside their cell each day.

The rules also require local authorities to tell the state whenever a prisoner under 18 is placed in solitary or when an inmate is held in solitary for more than a month.

Cuomo says the standards will create consistent rules and prevent prisoner mistreatment.

The state has already implemented changes to reduce the use of solitary confinement in state facilities.