By Alex Hannaford
Texas Observer
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ largest prison guard union is calling for a partial end to the controversial use of solitary confinement on death row.
In a letter to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) obtained by the Observer, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3807 advocates for TDCJ to house death-row prisoners who pose the lowest security risk in cells with other inmates. The union also calls for the prison system to introduce privileges such as work assignments, streaming television and technology such as computer tablets—all in an effort to reduce the psychological trauma of inmates and the potential confrontations with guards.
It’s a particularly powerful statement given the attitude of labor unions to prisoner rights and solitary confinement elsewhere in the country. According to an article in Mother Jones last year by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, founders of the Solitary Watch digital project on solitary confinement, those unions have largely been seen “as a major obstacle to more-humane conditions.”
Full story: Prison Guard Union Calls on Texas to Curtail Solitary Confinement on Death Row