Solitary confinement in Mississippi and elsewhere

TBA posts on an NYT piece about a county jail in Mississippi holding a mentally disturbed teenager in solitary confinement (for much of two years).  This inhuman practice has not been confined to Ms., as recent stories about Riker's Island indicate.

ETA: There are also a fair number of prisoners being held in solitary in federal prisons (though I don't have time to look up the numbers right now).

ETA (again): on a different but somewhat related issue, see here (h/t to a commenter at CT).

On incarceration, race, etc.

Issues of incarceration, race, and the death penalty, including the Davis case, are being written about at length here. I frankly haven't had time to do more than glance at these posts but I figured I'd put up the link for those who may be interested.

Bad verdict

I can see no compelling justification for putting five Somalis, who attacked a U.S. navy ship that for some reason they thought was a merchant vessel, in prison for life. This sentence, apparently mandatory in a piracy conviction (of which these are the first in a U.S. court since the early 19th century), seems excessive. It will simply add to the already absurdly large U.S. prison population.

Mass incarceration in the U.S.

Two-and-a-half million people are in prison in the U.S. This post includes a powerful interview with a civil rights lawyer who has a new book about the American prison system.