Prison Reform Student Group Constructs Solitary Confinement Cell on Ho Plaza

Students walking through Ho Plaza Monday afternoon probably noticed a large wooden box near the Cornell Store. The box, actually a replica of a solitary confinement cell, was constructed by Cornell student group PREP–Prison Reform and Education Project–and was used to teach students about solitary confinement in New York state prisons. 

The event was the first of PREP’s “Behind Bars Campaign,” part of its larger effort to educate students and foster student research about prison conditions. The makeshift cell measured 7x9x8 feet in dimensions, which is the same size as actual “Special Housing Units” in New York state prisons according to PREP, and featured informational flyers posted on its interior walls.

Garrison Lovely, PREP’s Director of Advocacy, told The Cornell Review that most people think solitary confinement is for “the worst of the worst… when in reality the vast majority are non-violent offenders.”

Lovely went on to say that prison reform is a cause both conservatives and liberals can rally around, even if for different reasons. He cited the costs of solitary confinement as one reason more conservatives are warming up to the idea of reforming the prison system. According to NPR, the cost to house one inmate in solitary confinement can reach up to $78,000 per year. That’s more than a year at Cornell.

The debate over whether prisons should focus on punishment or rehabilitation is also gaining national attention.

Earlier in the year, prominent libertarian-leaning Republican Senator Rand Paul made headlines when he teamed up with Democratic Senator Cory Booker to work on prison sentencing reform legislation. Paul’s purpose here seems to be a genuine concern for the sky-high costs of imprisoning non-violent offenders and the civil liberties of over-punishing non-violent offenders, but also mixed with his broader desire to reach out to blacks and Hispanics, who made up 59% of the imprisoned male population and 49% of the imprisoned female population in 2012.

According to PREP’s website, the organization’s main goal is to advocate for the decrease in the total size of the U.S. prison population, which in 2013 stood at about 2.4 million people. The group supports efforts to decriminalize marijuana, repeal mandatory minimum laws, and repeal 3-strike laws.

PREP meets on Mondays at 4:30 pm in Goldwin Smith Hall Room 181.