Dayton, legislators push for changes in solitary confinement

Gov. Mark Dayton and several DFL and Republican legislators are expressing alarm about the extremes to which state prison officials are using solitary confinement as punishment on many inmates, and are vowing to push for funding to expand mental health care for prisoners during the coming legislative session.

In an interview at his residence, Dayton said he met last week with Department of Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy in reaction to a Star Tribune investigative series on the state’s extensive use of solitary confinement in prisons, including on mentally ill inmates.

http://www.startribune.com/dayton-legislators-push-for-changes-in-solitary-confinement/405799416/