Burlington Public Library

During the late 20th century, assignment to Administrative Segregation -- in some states known as solitary confinement -- was standard protocol for difficult, dangerous offenders. In 2011, philosophies regarding Administrative Segregation began to shift. The late Tom Clements, then executive director of CDOC, felt that change was in order for Colorado. In 2011, the Colorado legislature laid the foundation for Administrative Segregation overhaul in...

From the cover. For decades, the United States has been fixated on incarceration, building prisons and locking up more and more people. But at what cost, and has it really made a difference? Frontline goes to the epicenter of the raging debate about incarceration in America, focusing on the controversial practice of solitary confinement and on new efforts to reduce the prison population, as officials are rethinking what to do with criminals. Award-winning...

" Prolonged solitary confinement has become a widespread and standard practice in U.S. prisons--even though it consistently drives healthy prisoners insane, makes the mentally ill sicker, and, according to the testimony of prisoners, threatens to reduce life to a living death. In this profoundly important and original book, Lisa Guenther examines the death-in-life experience of solitary confinement in America from the early nineteenth century to today's...

Michael Peterson was 19 years old in 1974. Reckless, and hoping to make a name for himself, he picked up a homemade sawed-off shotgun and set off to rob a post office. Caught and arrested soon after, he was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Ultimately, Peterson ended up behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which were spent in solitary confinement. While incarcerated, his alter ego, Charles Bronson, surfaced and eventually replaced his own...