By Celeste Rodriguez Cycle of Confinement

Over 100 people in the entire world serving a life sentence…

…without parole for crimes committed as minors in which nobody died…

All from the United States

One crime can land you here…

…a correctional facility where criminals become experts

Drugs Gangs Violence… Beatings Abuse Rape Crime Harassment Segregation Retaliation Humiliation

Violence

“People are sentenced to prison as punishment, not for punishment” -Kathleen Dennehy

Reduce Crowding Promote rehabilitation and productivity Incorporate violence prevention and direct supervision Refrain from using force and non-lethal weaponry Make use of surveillance technology Support community and family bonds

Medical Care High rates of disease and illness (STD’s, viral and bacterial infections) Inadequate funding Continuous spread of infectious diseases Medical neglect At least 350,000 prisoners have serious mental illness. More than 1.5 million people released from jail and prison each year carries a life-threatening contagious disease

Partner with health providers in the community Build real partnerships within the community Isolate mental illness inmates and treat them accordingly Screen, test, and treat for infectious disease End co-payments for medical care Extend Medicaid and Medicare for eligible prisoners

Segregation Counter-productive high-security Unproductive inmates Extremely isolated conditions shown to cause mental deterioration Twice as costly as other forms of confinement Defeats the purpose of rehabilitation Threatens public safety

Make segregation a last resort and a more productive form of confinement, and stop releasing people directly from segregation to the streets. End conditions of isolation Protect mentally ill prisoners

Once time is served… …these habits and lifestyles do not remain in prison. They are simply returned to the community with a distorted view of corruption as a necessity.

Break the cycle

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