bus driver
02-25-2010, 03:36 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/25/colorado.supermax.silverstein.solitary/index.html?hpt=C2
(CNN) -- Tommy Silverstein has been held in solitary confinement for the past 27 years, longer than anyone else in the federal prison system, his lawyers say.
He is locked up at the high-security prison in Florence, Colorado, known as Supermax. The lights are always on. Guards who slip him food through a slot in his cell door usually ignore him. A few times a week, he is permitted to exercise in the recreation room -- alone. Visits with his family and his lawyers are conducted through Plexiglas.
Silverstein's isolation is the result of an unusual no-human-contact order issued by a judge in 1983, after he murdered a guard at the federal prison in Marion, Illinois. Marion was known at the time as the most rigorous confinement in the federal prison system.
Silverstein has referred to his solitary existence as "a slow, constant peeling of the skin."
His attorneys, who are affiliated with the University of Denver, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 2007, alleging that the such prison conditions violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court of Colorado, is awaiting trial.
At Supermax, Silverstein, 58, practices yoga and meditates in his cell. He might catch an episode of "the Sopranos" or a reality show on the black-and-white TV in his cell. It's his only way to see the outside world.
Recently, he's learned to crochet, and he fills much of his time writing letters.
He has two Web sites being run by advocates and family friends: www.tommysilverstein.bravehost.com and tommysilverstein.blogspot.com.
One of the sites includes examples of Silverstein's prison artwork and writing, providing a glimpse into a life of isolation. Blue-toned drawings show hands trapped behind bars. Black-and-white ones starkly show cage-like conditions.
"It's almost more humane to kill someone immediately than it is to intentionally bury a man alive," he wrote in a 2008 letter to a friend.
Psychologists who have studied the effects of solitary confinement find that the lack of social interaction can cause severe anxiety and depression. Some inmates in solitary have committed suicide. (article continues)
he can get out when he dies......:wakeup
(CNN) -- Tommy Silverstein has been held in solitary confinement for the past 27 years, longer than anyone else in the federal prison system, his lawyers say.
He is locked up at the high-security prison in Florence, Colorado, known as Supermax. The lights are always on. Guards who slip him food through a slot in his cell door usually ignore him. A few times a week, he is permitted to exercise in the recreation room -- alone. Visits with his family and his lawyers are conducted through Plexiglas.
Silverstein's isolation is the result of an unusual no-human-contact order issued by a judge in 1983, after he murdered a guard at the federal prison in Marion, Illinois. Marion was known at the time as the most rigorous confinement in the federal prison system.
Silverstein has referred to his solitary existence as "a slow, constant peeling of the skin."
His attorneys, who are affiliated with the University of Denver, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 2007, alleging that the such prison conditions violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court of Colorado, is awaiting trial.
At Supermax, Silverstein, 58, practices yoga and meditates in his cell. He might catch an episode of "the Sopranos" or a reality show on the black-and-white TV in his cell. It's his only way to see the outside world.
Recently, he's learned to crochet, and he fills much of his time writing letters.
He has two Web sites being run by advocates and family friends: www.tommysilverstein.bravehost.com and tommysilverstein.blogspot.com.
One of the sites includes examples of Silverstein's prison artwork and writing, providing a glimpse into a life of isolation. Blue-toned drawings show hands trapped behind bars. Black-and-white ones starkly show cage-like conditions.
"It's almost more humane to kill someone immediately than it is to intentionally bury a man alive," he wrote in a 2008 letter to a friend.
Psychologists who have studied the effects of solitary confinement find that the lack of social interaction can cause severe anxiety and depression. Some inmates in solitary have committed suicide. (article continues)
he can get out when he dies......:wakeup