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In Democritzstan, prisoners enjoy an almost full humans-right treatment. Democritzstan former prime minister Yrtra is running for next UN Secretary-General, and has full backing from his land.

But in Democritzstan's maximum security prison, inmates have a "silence curfew" in place. Means afer 2200 hours no communications can happen between inmates.

Some smart perps have learned sign language, and are joyfully spending the nights talking to one another.

So,

  • Is this "no communications" curfew going to hurt Yrtra's standing with the international human-rights NGO? They have a big weight in the UN selections.
  • If it is OK, how can Democritzstan bar the inmates from using sign language to communicate after the curfew?
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    $\begingroup$ Uhmmm, turn the lights off at 22:00? $\endgroup$
    – Cyrus
    Commented Aug 24, 2016 at 14:39
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    $\begingroup$ "How to enforce" is totally different question than "what are political consequences". Why don't you split this in two questions? $\endgroup$
    – Mołot
    Commented Aug 24, 2016 at 14:53
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    $\begingroup$ Mandatory mitten policy. $\endgroup$
    – ckersch
    Commented Aug 24, 2016 at 21:17

3 Answers 3

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Sign language isn't an issue in Maximum Security Prisons

because of the way they are designed and the threat model they guard against. In a normal SuperMax prison, prisoners aren't supposed to communicate with each other, ever.

Take the average SuperMax cell: Prison Cell

The windows are tiny and there is no view from inside the cell outward. The diagram shows the two cells to be touching. Since visual communication isn't possible, prisoners might use Morse code to communicate. If the walls, floors and ceilings are all made out of concrete then simply putting a small airgap around the cell should be sufficient to make communicating by taps very very difficult.

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  • $\begingroup$ POWs in camps frequently used morse code or some other sonic code to exchange info between cells. As for an air gap, no prison in the world is going to be built to that level of precision, those things are made by the lowest bidder :P $\endgroup$
    – Jason K
    Commented Aug 24, 2016 at 21:15
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    $\begingroup$ @JasonK Precision doesn't have anything to do with it. An airgap of 2.1 inches vs 2.15 inches won't matter. Given the importance of the airgap, I would expect robust inspections. If you're the lowest bidder, fine, but you better deliver on spec. $\endgroup$
    – Green
    Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 2:47
  • $\begingroup$ Heh heh, go look at a few government owned buildings. Spaced walls would be leaning in on each other, those gaps would be filled with debris the contractors were too lazy to take away, one side would have a 1 mm gap, across the hall it would be 1 foot since the final plans weren't done when construction started. All I'm saying is that prisons get the least amount of resources of any government project :) $\endgroup$
    – Jason K
    Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 13:12
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It's a Maximum Security Prison. There is a reason the inmates are in there, in single cells, under constant surveillance. If the NGO wants to find an issue they will find an issue..

Turn Off the Lights

No lights, no seeing, no sign-language. Period.

Opaque Doors

Single cells for inmates. No seeing each other equals no signing each other.

cut off their handsMittens

Make them wear mittens after 2200. You can't really do sign language with these, can you?

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  • $\begingroup$ Mittens can be used for semaphore.... $\endgroup$
    – Jesse Cohoon
    Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 19:03
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On intake, implant inmates with a tracking chip which is multifunctional. The chip also "receives" a paralysis field that is broadcast across the prison and its grounds at 2200hrs.

This field can also be attributed to the zero jailbreak record of the prison, because it can be turned on manually as well as being set for automatic-on state at 2200hrs.

Something to think about is - if this practice becomes widely known will it have an adverse effect on the political ambitions of Ytra?

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