Maine legislature vote on "best torture practices" bill LD1611 resched'd to Monday April 5.

Maine's House of Representatives will vote Monday April 5,  on whether to either pass "best torture practices" bill or continue to allow unbridled use of isolation and bondage punishment techniques by the state's prison personnel. The alternatives come as the divided form of LD 1611 comes up for vote today by the Maine House of Representatives. 

NOTE: THE BILL HAD  PREVIOUSLY BEEN SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD FRIDAY APRIL 2ND.

Bill supporters say regulated torture is far better than the unregulated version currently in vogue at Maine State Prison. For that reason, they are calling on House members to vote to approve Alternative Two of the bill, the Nutting/Schatz Alternative.  Prison officials, on the other hand, are urging that the "Ought Not to Pass" alternative be approved.

Under the version proposed by Senator Nutting and Representative Schatz, prisoners could not be held in solitary for more than 45 days without an open review, and those inmates known to suffer from a short list of mental illnesses that would be aggravated by prolonged isolation would be subject to other forms of discipline.

"The Department of Corrections' present policy is completely arbitrary",  said Ron Huber, host of a weekly corrections-focused talk show on WRFR Community Radio in Rockland.  

"My inmate correspondent in Maine state prison was ordered to six months in solitary for repairing other inmates' broken radios," Huber said.  "No history of violence or other violations of prison policies. Yet inmates guilty of far more serious infractions received less than a week in "the Hole" as Maine Supermax is known by guards and prisoners alike."  

"Regrettably, Commissioner Magnusson and his associate commissioner for public relations Denise Lord claim this this arbitrary system is preferable." Huber said. "It lets them literally  wield the power of life and death in Maine State Prison " he said, pointing out all the suicides in Maine state prison during the Baldacci Administration have occurred in the Maine Supermax under the present arbitrary policy.

On Thursday morning, Maine's House of Representatives will vote on LD 1611, choosing between 

(1) continuing the Department of Corrections current system of meting out arbitrary terms in solitary confinement/segregation at the whims of prison officials by noting Ought Not to Pass, or 

(2) rationalizing the process by requiring the Warden and Corrections Commission to follow limits consistent with present day understanding of the impacts of the use of this punishment.

By whatever name: the Hole, segregation, solitary confinement, the practice is widely condemned around the civilized world as a form of torture, Huber noted.

"If Maine is determined to continue to torture its incarcerated citizens," he said, "then regulated torture is much much better than the unregulated nightmare sanctioned by Governor Baldacci that is presently taking place behind the walls of Maine's Supermax ." 

Reform supporters say that is why passing the Nutting/Schatz Alternative is important. 

"It will let Maine lead the nation out of the supermisery that the rise of Supermaxes has had on America's corrections", radio producer Huber said. 

"The alternatives, doing nothing, or at best, urging the state prison to investigate itself, would be laughable if the situation weren't so serious."

Maine Legislators press colleagues to lead nation in Supermax reform

If legislative supporters of reform of Maine's troubled Supermax have their way, Mainers will soon be spending less time in solitary confinement and other forms of "special management".  


 LD 1611 An Act To Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners", has come out from its  review by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee with  several alternatives. 

 Because the majority report from the Committee merely urges the Department of Corrections to conduct an internal review of its supermax policies, other legislators on the committee are championing a minority report that they hope the greater House and Senate will approve instead.

Called the Nutting/Schatz amendment for its two key sponsors: Senator John Nutting and Representative James Schatz, the Alternative Report#2 would (1) identify types of mental illness that identify certain prisoners to be unsuitable for "segregation", and(2)  limit the use of segregation or solitary to 45 days, with extensions only if the isolated inmate has attempted to escape, has engaged "serious physical violence" including sexual assault, or "would pose a risk to the safety of staff or other prisoners."

 Prisoners would also be able to appeal solitary confinement and, under their own expense, could hire an attorney and produce witnesses for the appeal. The bill also requires the Department of Corrections to maintain a current list of all "special management" prisoners

The Majority Report is a  toothless sop to prison industry lobbyists" said Ron Huber,  prison reform activist and producer of a weekly radio show on Maine state prison issues.  "The prison industry waged a negative campaign attacking the reform bill as dangerous for prison guards and other officials." he said.

 While the alleged dangers were never articulated, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee was convinced into supporting a stripped down version of the bill that limits it to simply urging prison officials to investigate themselves and try to reform Maine's supermax from within. 

 "Doesn't work," Huber said.  "Maine state prison has been urged before to improve its record on treatement of Maine citizens placed under solitary confinement and other forms of "special management". To little effect"

The alternative bill by Senator Nutting and Representative Schatz is watered down, Huber said, but still requires the state to treat Mainers behind prison bars as human beings. "Inmates that are mentally incapable of handling solitary confinement will be disciplined in other ways." 

 With dozens of Maine legislators already supporting the Nutting/Schatz Alternative report (Minority report 2), Huber and other prison reform activists are confident that the legislature will pass the minority report's modest reforms into law.