Aaron Hernandez after being
convicted of first degree murder
Former NFL star and multi-millionaire, Aaron Hernandez, was convicted of first degree murder in the death of friend, Odin Lloyd. In Boston, Massachusetts the first degree murder conviction constitutes an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez is also facing trial in a double murder that also occurred in Massachusetts.
CNN did a report on the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, where Hernandez will be housed for the rest of his life and it's not pretty. As Hernandez is a famous inmate, he will be segregated from the rest of the prison population, placed in solitary confinement either temporarily or indefinitely as the situation warrants it. Hernandez will spend 19-hours per day in a small cell with a small window.
Prison consultant Leslie Walker stated to CNN regarding solitary confinement, "Solitary confinement is a kind of torture that no one does well in. The lack of meaningful sensory stimulus and contact drives people mad. Prison officials may feel they have to put him there for his safety, but I hope not. It's very hard time." It may seem harsh to some, but just think about what the victims families are going through.
Once again, the Judiciary Report would like to implore the site's readers to stay on the straight and narrow path. Appreciate what you have and make the best of your life and freedom. Work hard and stay out of trouble.
STORY SOURCE
What prison life will be like
for Aaron Hernandez
Updated 11:01 PM ET, Thu April 16, 2015 - Prison life won't be pretty for Aaron Hernandez, the NFL football player and convicted murderer sentenced to life without parole. After correction officers evaluate him, he will be shipped to Massachusetts' flagship maximum-security prison, one of the most high-tech jails in the United States with no history of breakouts: the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, about 40 miles outside downtown Boston.
It's called Souza, for short, and it's the state's newest prison, opened in 1998, with a matrix of 366 cameras recording live 24 hours a day and a microwave detection perimeter with taut wire. "I don't know the date, but he'll be going there. That's the maximum-security facility," Department of Corrections spokesman Darren Duarte said. Legal advocates for inmates describe Souza as sterile and violent at once. Its diverse demographic includes the young and the old, many of whom are also doing life. One stubborn problem is that opiates are smuggled to inmates, the legal advocates said...
The prison system has yet to determine where to initially place Hernandez in Souza: solitary confinement; the less harsh but restricted block; the general population; a privileged section known as the "lifers block," for those serving a life sentence; or the "kitchen block," for those who work in the prison kitchen...
Even so, the cells are stark, small rooms of painted cinder-block walls with metal fixtures: a bunk mounted to the wall, a toilet and sink combination, a small writing shelf attached to the wall, and a nearby small stool affixed to the floor, Walker said. There's also a shelf for a small television, which must have a clear back for easy inspection, Walker said. With the exception of the TV, which inmates can buy for under $200, all furnishings are metal and bolted down to keep inmates from throwing them, she said...
"There's very little to do," Walker said of inmate life. "It was built as a punishment facility. The thing in corrections is that you don't want people to like it there. Some people have been there since it opened, and those people are excruciatingly bored or scared or both."... "Solitary confinement is a kind of torture that no one does well in. The lack of meaningful sensory stimulus and contact drives people mad," Walker said. Initially, "prison officials may feel they have to put him there for his safety, but I hope not," Walker said. "It's very hard time."
