New prisons policy caps stays in solitary confinement

COLUMBIA – The state's prison system is changing the way it places inmates in solitary confinement, after years of criticism about using such sanctions to discipline mentally ill prisoners.

Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told The Greenville News that earlier this month he ordered a cap on what the prison system calls "disciplinary detention" as part of a new policy on disciplinary actions that also allows inmates to earn back their privileges with proper behavior.

The new policy means offenses that could have resulted in years in solitary now will have a cap of 60 days, he said, although inmates who prison officials believe pose a threat to others can be held indefinitely.

Also, Stirling said the cases of those now held in solitary will be reviewed.

"We feel like we're in the forefront of disciplinary detentions in the country," he said about the new policy.

Stirling said his decision was an outgrowth of the class-action lawsuit involving mentally ill inmates and was made before a report was released this month showing that the prison system has brought more than 400 disciplinary cases in the past three years for inmates' use of social media, including 16 cases in which prisoners were locked up in solitary for more than a decade.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which obtained records from the prison system under the state Freedom of Information Act, more than 40 inmates received two years in solitary and one man received 37 years. The foundation describes itself as a national nonprofit that defends civil liberties in the digital world.

Stirling said he does not dispute the foundation's findings but the new policy prevents any future "stacking" of solitary detentions, capping such penalties for all but those with security concerns at 60 days and reviewing the cases of those now held in solitary.

Sen. Mike Fair, a Greenville Republican who chairs the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee, said he was pleased at Stirling's decision.

"Good," he said. "That is the mindset of the General Assembly right now."

Fair said solitary confinement has been such an issue with mentally ill inmates because they have such an adverse reaction to it. He said staff are being trained now in how to interact with inmates in solitary to reduce any harmful impact for those with mental illness.

Former state Circuit Judge Michael Baxley cited the use of solitary confinement last year in his landmark, 45-page order finding the prison system had violated the constitutional rights of inmates with serious mental illness.

One of the cases he noted was of Jerome Laudman, a mentally ill inmate who died after being held naked in solitary for 11 days and contracted hypothermia.

The state last year settled a claim over Laudman's death by paying his estate $1.2 million.

Why Laudman was sent to solitary and who authorized the move remains a mystery, according to prison records.

The state and the plaintiffs in the 10-year-old lawsuit over the treatment of mentally ill inmates reached an agreement last month that would increase staff, revise policies and improve facilities.

Stirling said use of social media such as Facebook by inmates is a Level 1 offense in the prison system, the most serious type of violation, in part because inmates are not supposed to have access to the internet, except in some restricted educational settings.

He said in most cases, they are using smuggled cell phones to post on social media, or have family do it.

"We take that very seriously," he said. "This is an unmonitored communication, which should be very scary for everybody. Contraband cell phones and social networking, which is a result of contraband cell phones, is a problem. That's why we have opened a web portal where folks can report those on social media."

The foundation, in its report, criticized the confinements and sanctions against inmates when family members are making the posts. Its report came out after the new policy went into effect, Stirling said.

"South Carolina's policy goes too far, and not only because of the shockingly disproportionate punishments," the foundation stated in its report. "The policy is also incredibly broad; it can be applied to any reason an inmate may ask someone outside to access the Internet for them, such as having a family member manage their online financial affairs, working with activists to organize an online legal defense campaign, sending letters to online news sites, or just staying in touch with family and friends to create the type of community support crucial to reintegrating into society."

Stirling said contraband cell phones are a problem in prisons across the country.

He said some social media posts could be deemed security issues and can result in indefinite solitary confinement.

"If they are out there threatening people or throwing gang signs that could be interpreted as threatening or trying to find out more information about Department of Corrections employees or others, then that would be a security situation," he said.

Stirling said the change in the solitary policy is part of an overhaul of disciplinary actions.

"So now if they get in trouble and they violate a rule of the prison, and lose their telephone privileges or canteen privileges, they are going to be encouraged to earn those back by behaving and following the rules of the prison," he said. "That will give them hope and make our prisons safer."

He said the new process also will be more timely. Before the changes, he said, inmates could be disciplined with solitary but they might have to wait a year before serving their punishment because solitary cells would be filled.

"Now it's going to be timely and immediate," he said, "but also encourage you to behave and follow the rules and regulations of the institution so you work your way out, just like other privileges they can have."

He said every solitary case now is under review and that will take time to complete.

"We are going to be rolling out our new disciplinary detention policies and step down, institution by institution," he said. "What we've learned in the mediation is for someone who has been locked up for a long time, we can't just all of a sudden just let them out into the general population because I've been told there's all kind of potential problems with that. We need to be sure our institutions are safe."

He said he is not sure how many are held now in solitary confinement.

"We're going to end up with a lot less people in disciplinary detention," he said.