i was going to write about the java programming language, since i've started using it this year, but it actually seems like it may be boring for other people. instead, a case of mass hysteria. and another, which i read about long ago, but this one involving laughing.
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and ends. A Janus word or autoantonym is a word that has two opposite meanings at once. A prime example is the word dust, which can mean both to remove something and to sprinkle it on. Another hotly contested example is the term literally, which may mean both in reality, actually or metaphorically or figuratively.
There's been a lot of press about solitary confinement lately. Hopefully this is a larger part of reforming US criminal justice systems - the stories contained within are truly terrible. Interesting facts I didn't know relate to my absolute favorite religious group.
Solitary confinement began as a social experiment from a Quaker-inspired philosophy offering an alternative for more severe forms of punishment (cutting off limbs, death penalty). Beginning in the 1790s, society began to regard some criminals as rehabitable; prisons built from that social perspective began to encompass more than just punishment as their goal. One strategy was particularly revolutionary: solitary confinement. For instance, in 1829, the first prison was built containing cells built for solitary confinement. However, it was discontinued after a number of prisoners committed suicide, went insane, or were no longer functional in society. It started to gain traction in California in the 1930s, memorably shown in The Birdman of Alcatraz, a film that took great poetic license with its subject.
Twenty nine years ago, in 1983, a prison first used the modern 23 hour lockdown in Marion, Illinois. Six years later, California built the first Supermax prison. Now, over 25,000 prisoners are in solitary confinement in the United States, with possibly 80,000 more in restrictive confinement, and not all are crazed individuals unable to socialize with any one else (and, indeed, the Dart Society Reports article identifies some additional human desires, such as reading materials, that may be denied to such inmates). In addition to - like a lot of the criminal justice system - being ineffective and a waste of resources, many question whether isolation should be classified as torture.
And, in a twist that shows why i love me some Society of Friends, the American Friends Service Committee continues to work for prisoner rights, including to limit the use of solitary confinement.
**Update**
It would appear the reason for the rise in publicity was because of a UN report on Monday. From the Times article:
In a report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Juan E. Méndez, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on torture and other abuse, called for a ban on solitary confinement except in limited situations and singled out the United States for its reliance on the method.
And here's a quote to get you to hopefully explore all of the above articles, from the Dart Society Report's article:
Prisoners strike up relationships with the critters that crawl in through their air vents. One man used his own hairs to try to repair a moth’s injured wing in hopes of facilitating its escape. Mohammed Saleh — convicted of having co-conspired in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — lost his daily hour of outdoor recreation for three months at ADX because he saved bread crumbs to feed blackbirds in his exercise pen.
And finally, some of the article ties into one of my favorite social movements, prison rebellions and strikes.
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