Good. We really need to work to stigmatize things like solitary confinement and prison rape rather than relish in criminals getting their comeuppance.
Solitary confinement is brutal. Indefinite solitary confinement is cruel and unusual. Just as important as punishing someone for what they've done, is the what the punishment does to those applying it. These policies dehumanize us all. Social order is not an end unto itself. It is the result of a healthy society. If social order is the goal, society will rot as we struggle to achieve it.
Decriminalize consensual crimes and let the other fools starve if they don't like the food the law-abiding citizens provide. I'm really not sure why we (taxpayers) have any obligation to feed criminals, even if they do miss 9 consecutive meals. If I didn't work all week to buy food, or prepare food for my family that I bought with the money I earned, or cleaned up after myself, or paid for the heat/cooling that I lived in, could I stage a hunger strike? Sorry, no sympathy from me.
I don't see the hunger strike's goal being "release properly convicted prisoners" or anything unreasonable. They're protesting their conditions, which include incredible stretches of solitary confinement. You're arguing that if someone goes to jail, regardless of how large or small their crime, they should just accept any conditions imposed on them, and they have no right to redress? Including, what many would argue, amounts to torture? I challenge you to read Atul Gawande's piece of the myriad effects of solitary confinement. I think it was Dostoyevsky who said, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." What do our prisons say of us?
wait, can you clarify this? because to me it sounds like you just said you support intentionally starving prisoners, but i'm sure that can't be rightI'm really not sure why we (taxpayers) have any obligation to feed criminals, even if they do miss 9 consecutive meals.
There are plenty of documentaries that go into detail. Basically, solitary does cause an impact on the brain. It's well documented.
I really can't think of any off the top of my head right now, but if you go here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ you might be able to find something.