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Solitary Confinement Endangers Public Safety.
Last year, 1,300 inmates were released into Texas neighborhoods directly from administrative segregation where the average stay is three years. Almost all of those inmates left without access to re-entry, rehabilitation and educational programming.
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Dear ACLU of Texas supporter,
Most of us know it as "solitary confinement" but prison officials call it "administrative segregation." Prisoners call it "the hole" or "ad seg." Whatever you call it, it means punishing offenders by housing them in single cells with no interaction for 23 hours a day. The overuse of administrative segregation threatens public safety and wastes taxpayer money. Those released from administrative segregation re-offend at a higher rate than any sub-population in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), at 41 percent.
Many inmates currently placed in administrative segregation are non-violent and could be placed into the general population, which would save Texas taxpayers about $20 a day per inmate. Now’s the time to let state officials know they can save taxpayers money and impose this punishment more wisely. TDCJ is up for formal review process by the Sunset Advisory Commission that has the power to place this issue on the agenda during the next legislative session. Tell the Sunset Advisory Commission Chair about wasted dollars and the dangers of overusing solitary confinement in Texas prisons.
In other states, removing mentally ill and non-violent offenders from solitary confinement has positively affected re-entry and re-offender rates, while saving tax dollars.
Tell TDCJ to narrow the criteria for administrative segregation to only those inmates who have committed serious infractions and remain a present threat to the general population.
Take action: Ask the Sunset Advisory Commission to review the use of administrative segregation in Texas.
ACLU of Texas
www.aclutx.org
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