Gang Member Punishment- Solitary Confinement?

Gang members and threats are a very serious issue in many states around the country.  Different states have different laws that deal with accused gang members.  Among the states, California has some of the most intense laws for convicted gang members according to the New YorkTimes. 

According to the California Penal Code Section 186.22, any small felony that goes along with any gang-related incidence, there is an additional one, two, or three years added to their sentence from the crime they have been convicted of. 

California, though, has made this a regular habit.  They have punished many gang members or accused gang members under these terms. The penalties for gang members, once convicted consist of solitary confinement for years and, in some cases decades.  No matter how they act in prison, most are still placed in solitary confinement.  Even if they cause no problems or convicted of a small felony, they still spend their sentence in the same conditions as the leaders and trouble-makers in convicted gang members.

In one instance, Ernesto Lira was arrested for carrying three grams of methamphetamine in his car.  Upon his conviction, they considered him as part of gang, even though he was not.  Lira spent eight years in solitary confinement, with an hour or less out of his cell a day.  Lira was released, but now suffers from emotional disorders such as depression and a fear of crowds.  The toll this experience took on him was extreme.  According to his sister, “He is not the same person at all” (New York Times).  Social confinement for eight years causes many harmful side-effects and because of Lira, California has now recognized this.

The state of California has begun to propose new changes to their penal system.  They are trying to decrease the number that will be put in solitary confinement during their sentences.  If these changes do occur, it will be the biggest shifts in how the system handles gang members. They are trying to make well-behaved inmates be able to stay out of solitary confinement, while the leaders and trouble-makers would still be placed in solitary confinement.

I believe California should make these changes.   If a convicted gang member has been well-behaved, he should be able to stay out of solitary confinement.  I don’t believe that if one convicted member who has committed a small felony should be suffering in solitary confinement.  If he poses no threat to other inmates or carrying on the gang in the prison, he should be able to experience some rights.  I also believe that leaders and convicted trouble-makers should be placed in solitary confinement because they will carry on the gangs and problems in the prison system.  They don’t have to stay in solitary confinement for eight years at a time, but they could use some time so they don’t cause more problems.