Ethics and Human Rights in U.S. Prisons

The United States leads the world in incarceration. The “War on Drugs” and prioritizing punishment over rehabilitation has led to mass imprisonment, mainly of the nation’s most vulnerable populations: people of color, the economically disadvantaged and undereducated, and those suffering from mental illness. Although these social disparities are striking, the health discrepancies are even more pronounced. What can be done to address this health and human rights crisis?

This conference examined various aspects of human rights and health issues in our prisons. In collaboration with educators, health professionals, and those involved in the criminal justice system—including former inmates, advocates, and law enforcement—the conference sought to clarify the issues, explore possible policy and educational responses, and establish avenues for action.

This conference was open to the public.

Agenda

Wednesday, November 29, 2017, Pre-Conference Event

Armenise Building, D-Amphitheater, 210 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA

6:15pm, 13th Documentary Film Screening and Panel Discussion

​Thursday, November 30, 2017

Tosteson Medical Education Center, 260 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA

8:15 – 9:00am, Registration and Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15am, Welcome and Introduction

9:15 – 10:15am, Keynote: Righting Wrongs: Lessons Learned from One Lost Life

10:15 – 10:30, Break 10:30 – 11:00am, Contract Prisons and Contract Health Care: What Do We Know?

11:00 – 11:45am, Life during and after Incarceration: Two Personal Experiences

11:45am – 12:30pm, Where Rights Meet Reality: Prison Health Care

12:30 – 1:30pm, Lunch 1:30 – 3:15pm, Women’s Health in Prisons: Achieving Just and Respectful Care for Pregnant Women in Prison

3:15 – 3:30pm, Break 3:30 – 5:00pm, Sexuality and Sexual Minorities in Prison: Sexuality, Gender Identity, and Sexual Abuse

5:00 – 6:00pm, Reception

Friday, December 1, 2017

7:30 – 8:00am, Registration and Breakfast

8:00 – 9:00am, Psychiatric Care in U.S. Prisons and Jails: Challenges and Opportunities

9:00 – 10:00am, Psychopathological Effects of Solitary Confinement

10:00 – 10:15am, Break 10:15 – 11:45am, Health Care Workers in Prisons

11:45 – 12:45pm, Lunch 12:45 – 2:45pm, Concurrent Sessions

Asylum Seekers in Detention

Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 328

The Social and Spiritual Injustices of Prison

Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 306

Getting beyond Bars: A Look at Prison Re-Entry

Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 250

Children and Adolescents in Juvenile Detention

Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 209

• Louis J. Kraus, The Woman’s Board Professor of Child Psychiatry; Professor, Department of Psychiatry; Director, Section of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry; and Director, Autism Assessment, Research, Treatment & Services (AARTS) Program at Rush Medical College

2:45 – 4:45pm, Final Plenary Discussion: Strategies and Next Steps

Learn More

Blog Posts

• Gali Katznelson, “Reflecting on Behind Bars: Ethics and Human Rights in U.S. Prisons”

This event was cosponsored by the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.