-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Al-Aminstories] Awaiting trial, Al-Amin passes time in solitary Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 14:28:39 -0700 (PDT) From: AQ <aqdcksa at yahoo.com> Reply-To: Al-Aminstories at egroups.com To: al-aminstories at egroups.com
Awaiting trial, Al-Amin passes time in solitary
By Joshua B. Good Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
For much of his time, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin is alone.
No other inmates to talk with. No one to share meals with. No one to pray with.
Jailers at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center have denied his request to worship with other inmates.
One of his attorneys, Jack Martin, has a more long-term concern: Al-Amin's mental health.
It could be up to two years before Al-Amin comes to trial on charges of murdering Fulton County Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Kinchen and seriously wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
"I'm always concerned about a defendant who is held and has little contact with other human beings," Martin said. "That can have a harmful effect with their ability to aid in their own defense."
Long-term solitary confinement can cause some inmates to become severely depressed, become suicidal or develop other serious mental illnesses, said Jim DeGroot, a psychologist with the Georgia prisons.
DeGroot recommends inmates not be held in isolation for more than 60 days. But prison inmates who are violent can be held in solitary confinement for years.
"The less human contact they have, the greater the risk," DeGroot said.
Cobb officials say Al-Amin is not being held in solitary confinement. He has visitors, who come to see him four days a week. He can watch television. But because he is accused of killing a sheriff's deputy, Al-Amin is considered a high security risk and is in a "close security" cell, said Col. Lynda Coker of the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.
Al-Amin's cell is in a maximum-security block called the A pod. The "rubber room" in the jail's infirmary is the only place in the jail that is more restrictive than Al-Amin's cell.
The cell has two bunk beds, a metal toilet and a sink. No inmates occupy the cells next to his. The three cells are connected to a glassed-in day room where Al-Amin is allowed to watch television. Other inmates in the pod are allowed into a large common area where Al-Amin cannot go.
Guards escort Al-Amin to another portion of the A pod when he receives visitors on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. He is not allowed to wear his traditional kufi head covering, so he drapes a jail towel over his head when talking with family, members of his mosque or his team of lawyers. He speaks to visitors on a phone, separated from them by thick glass.
Al-Amin eats all meals in his cell. Today, he is scheduled to have applesauce, grits, scrambled eggs and turkey sausage for breakfast. No pork is served at the jail, allowing inmates like Al-Amin to maintain restrictive religious diets.
Each day he spends one hour in the A pod's recreation court by himself. Al-Amin's lawyer hopes his client's good behavior will win him the opportunity to worship with other inmates.
But Coker said Al-Amin's confinement is based on the charges, not his behavior. He will remain in maximum security until his trial, she said.
Ricky Kinchen's brother, David Kinchen, isn't worried about Al-Amin's mental health. "A man is innocent until proven guilty. But if he's guilty of killing my brother I could care less if he is in a jail cell by himself."
===== May allah guide the sincere to His Straight Path and keep them firm upon it, ameen.
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