Massachusetts Department of Correction Gives a Lesson in How to Get Around Solitary Confinement Reforms

November 20, 2019September 1, 2020 Katie Rose Quandt

In April 2018, advocates in Massachusetts celebrated the signing of the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA), which mandated changes throughout the state’s criminal justice system. Included among the reforms were some new restrictions on the use of solitary confinement, set to go into effect at the beginning of 2019. But advocates say that instead of […]

"Epidemic" of Suicides in Massachusetts Prisons

August 6, 2010November 2, 2010 Jean Casella and James Ridgeway

On July 15, an inmate hanged himself in his cell at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater, bringing the number of suicides in Massachusetts state prisons this year to eight. The rate of suicides, which so far averages one a month, is four times the national average. According to the Boston Globe, prisoner advocates’ “calls for an urgent response […]

Solitary Watch

By Valerie Kiebala, James Ridgeway, and Lawrence Ukenye | December 30, 2020

Prisoners Legal Services

Massachusetts Department of Correction Gives a Lesson in How to Get Around Solitary Confinement Reforms

"Epidemic" of Suicides in Massachusetts Prisons