What was the aim of your article about supermaximum-security prisons (News, Aug. 2)? In the photograph accompanying the article, we are shown how these prisoners are “deprived” because their cell window won’t open and their shower water is on a timer, to prevent flooding.
These men are criminals, after all. There are places in this world where people are locked away for their religion, their ethnicity or their political beliefs. In the former Soviet Union, solitary confinement meant no heat, no bed, no blankets and little food.
In light of the true human rights violations that exist in this world, it is hard to connect three square meals a day, a television set, indoor plumbing and unlimited library access with sensory deprivation. Some people pay money at resorts for this type of isolation.
