What happens to people in solitary confinement | Laura Rovner

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2019

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Imagine living with no significant human contact for years, even decades, in a cell the size of a small bathroom. This is the reality for those in long-term solitary confinement, a form of imprisonment regularly imposed in US prisons. In this eye-opening talk, civil rights lawyer Laura Rovner takes us to ADX, the US federal government's only supermax prison, and describes the dehumanizing effects of long-term solitude on the mind, personality and sense of self. What emerges is an urgent case for abolishing solitary confinement -- and evidence for how our tax dollars, public safety and values are implicated in it. "Prisons are administered in our name and on our behalf," she says. "We have an obligation to bear witness."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you know who's watching you?
0:01.7	Discover Palisade, the gripping new thriller that is becoming a terrifying reality.
0:07.4	In a world dominated by AI, two unlikely allies join forces to uncover corruption and murder at the highest levels.
0:15.7	But who can they trust when their deadly enemy tracks their every move?
0:20.1	Readers are calling it compelling and a taut thriller for our times.
0:24.2	Palisade by Lou Gilmonde.
0:26.3	Get your copy today and make sure no one's watching.
0:32.6	This TED Talk features Law Professor Laura Rovner,
0:36.7	recorded live at TEDx Mile High, 2018.
0:41.5	The drive to the world's most secure prison is beautiful. The federal government's only
0:47.2	supermax prison, known as ADX, is 90 miles south of Denver. Standing outside the building,
0:54.0	ADX looks like a newish suburban middle school.
0:58.3	The lobby is clean and bright.
1:01.3	There's big windows and clear views of the mountains,
1:04.3	and a polite front desk attendant
1:06.3	with a kiosk selling travel mugs.
1:10.4	On the wall is a large plaque that reads,
1:13.4	the best prize that life offers is a chance to work hard at work worth doing.
1:18.6	Just past it is a huge frame photo of Alcatraz.
1:23.2	And down the stairs, at the end of a long hallway,
1:26.5	are 400 men decaying in isolation cells.
1:30.8	I work on cases involving the constitutional rights of prisoners.
	...

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