A Supermax Death Sentence
A 2001 Amnesty International report detailed the death in prison of David Tracy, sent to jail for minor drug charges at age 18. After five suicide attempts, and with just a few months remaining on his sentence, he finally killed himself at age 20 in a supermax isolation cell at Wallens Ridge State Prison (WRSP) in Virginia. Amnesty described conditions in that unit: Prisoners “are routinely abused with electro-shock stun guns, subjected to racial verbal abuse by guards, fired on with painful pellet guns, and placed unnecessarily in five point restraints [strapping a prisoner down to keep him from moving his arms and legs].” Conditions in this typical supermax are “contrary to international standards prohibiting torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including those set out under the International Covenant on Civil or Political Rights and the Convention against Torture—treaties ratified by the USA.” In other words, in addition to being inhumane and immoral, the conditions in U.S. prisons are illegal by U.S. and international law. (“United States of America: Abuses continue unabated? Cruel and inhumane treatment at Virginia supermaximum security prisons.”)
