Title

"This Just In" piece reporting that Ryan Rideout, a 25-year-old inmate, killed h

Authors

Lance Tapley

Source

Portland Phoenix

Date

10-13-2006

Pages

4

Abstract

"This Just In" piece reporting that Ryan Rideout, a 25-year-old inmate, killed himself in the state's Supermax prison on October 5. Rideout had a long history of mental illness and suicidal behavior. The Department of Corrections has admitted problems in, and promised reforms to, the Maine State Prison's solitary-confinement Supermax unit, which contains many mentally ill prisoners. Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the corrections department, says that one reform already instituted is the placement of high-risk, mentally challenging prisoners in a new pod of cells, but Rideout was placed in the lowest-security level within the Supermax. Ray Luc Levasseur, a political activist who spent years in federal supermaxes, says the sensory deprivation and isolation of these units intensifies any mental health issues the prisoners have.

Subjects

Maine State Prison Warren, Supermax, Prisoners Abuse of

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