#5 Report Documents Abuse in Pennsylvania Prison's Lockdown Unit

http://solitarywatch.com/2011/04/26/report-documents-abuse-in-pennsylvania-prisons-lockdown-unit/#comment-2027

Solitary Confinement is forced upon prisoners who have done wrong and have disobeyed orders while in prison. Solitary Confinement was meant for those who need a harsher punishment to behave while in prison. It was not meant for those who have made minor mistakes because Solitary Confinement is a horrifying place. If an inmate is told they will be put in solitary confinement  the prisoner can file a grievance which can over turn the solitary confinement order. Filing a grievance seems as if the prisoners have a chance to tell their side of the story but according to Department of Correction records, "97.89 percent of the 43,853 grievances filed by prisoners [in 2008] were rejected for various reasons." This data shows that most prisoners are not taken seriously and that the guards have complete control over every situation even if they are lying. The guards are able to threaten the prisoners when they have done something minor, but the truth of these situations will never come out because  filing a grievance means nothing in the prisons since the system will ignore the situation.Prisoners who file grievances, which is protesting their living conditions and filing complaints results in the guards retaliating. "The HRC report provides several examples, including withholding food, water, showers, and mattresses as well as forced cell extractions and the use of pepper spray and restraint chairs. It calls retaliation the lynchpin holding together the culture of terror in the solitary units at Huntingdon, as it involves the targeted application of violence and the deprivation of basic necessities with the deliberate intent of silencing protest, public exposure, and legal action." Prisoners should not be treated as if they are animals even if they have misbehaved. Guards do not have the rights to threton the prisoners after filing a grievance. The grievance should be read and taken in account for the conditions at the prion, but it does not seem to be happening instead the prisoners are being torture even more.