Philosophical Vegan Forum

Depending on the prison, solitary confinement is used to both punish prisoners who violate rules and those who need special protection, but the systems vary vastly from prison to prison. For instance, in some prisons only violent actions can send one to solitary, while in others, something as benign as possessing anything not allowed can lead to a stint in solitary. Such as artwork, tobacco, an extra shirt, or even masturbatory aids.

How should we deal with punishments in prison for the "worst of the worst"? The prisoner who stabs a guard or prisoner every chance he/she gets, not the one who can't stop collecting soap to make sculptures.

Even for those who can't stop stabbing people, what should we as a society do to "deal" with them? Should we separate them, but allow them to communicate with others? How could we practically achieve this? (Specifics on moving them, feeding, etc.)

I don't think we should use solitary confinement. It's considered torture by most standards. Not only is it immoral, but it's unconstitutional, and doing it anyway sets a bad precedent. However, obviously we need to take into consideration the wellbeing of the people around the "worst of the worst" prisoners... so maybe they should be SEPARATED, but not isolated in interpersonal connections.

So would it be considered as "solitary" if they were physically separated, but allowed to receive mail or telephone calls?

Let's face it, some people are just predators, and would/do physically assault both guards and other prisoners every chance they get, just because.