Prison reform curbs some solitary confinement, but how much?

The militarization of police forces in cases such as Ferguson, Missouri’s riots has led the state of Utah to question what can be done to prevent such an overuse of force from happening. Utah expanded upon a law passed by Democratic legislature in Maryland, which Utah’s ACLU reworked with some libertarians, to require the police to provide data about SWAT team usage. Utah’s success demonstrates that demilitarization bills passed with bipartisan support are not impossible.

A positive transformation in a Mississippi prison has become a focal point for a growing number of states rethinking the use of long-term isolation. Humanitarian groups have long argued that solitary confinement has devastating psychological effects, but a central driver in the recent shift is economics. Some officials have also been persuaded by research suggesting that isolation is vastly overused and that it does little to reduce overall prison violence.

With human injustices affecting people on the streets around the world, camera phones have become important tools to document crimes. However, the video may not adequately capture the crime to be persuasive in court. The global organization WITNESS has formed as Video As Evidence Program to instruct citizens how to best document crimes with their cameras so that the evidence will stand in court.

Historically, police interrogations of suspects have been brutal and have involved torture. These strategies have also produced a high rate of false confessions. The HIG method, which encourages conversation in a comfortable environment, has shown to be successful in revealing the truth and incarcerating the convicted with confidence.

The gang-driven violence in Honduras has caused thousands to migrate to the United States. In the last three years, with emergency international aid from the United States, Honduras has experienced a 62 percent drop in homicides and has witnessed a decrease in the number of migrants entering the United States. The aid has gone toward community improvement projects and outreach centers, such as providing items for soccer games and other activities that dissuade gangsters from fighting each other. It also has supported more effective prosecution of homicides.

To reduce violence and aggreesion trauma-informed care become the new standard in Wisconsin for juvenile corrections. However, at the two highlighted facillities there has been greater violence and an investigation of abuse, but supporters still contend that when trauma-informed care is implemented correctly it is successful.

In Prince George's County School system, two schools have offered international schools, which have a different curriculum for immigrants new to the USA. This has caused complaints and difficulties with the other students, the after school band program has helped bring the two groups together to socialize and form friendships.

Memorials are being created at rapid rates these days, but they seem to lack a long-term effect on the public. The Chicago Torture Justice Memorials project seeks to change this pattern by putting out an international call for memorial proposals, wanting a variety in visions and a collective memorial, in order to remember the torture of black detainees and racialized police misconduct.

New programs aim to ease inmates out of years of solitary confinement by passing them through different "stages," each with different behavioral requirements and rewards. It's an approach that allows inmates to gradually gain more control over their lives.

Solitary confinement has long been shown to exacerbate mental health problems and is considered to be inhumane for long periods of time. Colorado is taking steps to reduce the amount of time prisoners spend in isolation, and Wisconsin is looking to do the same.