'Orange is the New Black' Season 2 Premiere: Piper Kerman Dishes On Solitary Confinement & The Prison System [VIDEO]
Orange is the New Black writer Piper Kerman recently spoke to The Huffington Post about solitary confinement in the current prison system.
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Kerman, who wrote the memoir Orange is the New Black on which the Netflix series was based, spoke out against the solitary confinement system in the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Kerman said that the BOP deserved a "high level of scrutiny," adding that the Bureau is not thoroughly watched as much as local and state prisons. The author then recounted the number of times she's come across female prisoners who have received solitary confinement sentences for seemingly minor offenses.
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"I know many, many women who have spent time in the SHU [Special Housing Unit], many women who have spent potentially short times in the SHU for very minor infractions -- something like having very low-level contraband, something like refusing a direct order from a corrections office -- that can easy land you in the SHU for terms of 30 days and sometimes longer," she explained.
Kerman was close to experiencing a solitary confinement sentencing when she was in prison, recounting the time when she was in possession of a screwdriver, which she got rid of in order to avoid solitary confinement.
"If I had been found with that screwdriver, I definitely would have been in the SHU. I was terrified of that," she said.
The screwdriver storyline was adapted for the screen in the first season of Orange is the New Black. The plot line also featured Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) going into solitary confinement and hearing voices that may or may not have been real.
It is unknown if the second season of Orange is the New Black will feature any of the prisoners being sentenced to solitary, but the show has already proven how dramatic the sentencing can be.
Orange is the New Black season 2 premieres in full on Friday, June 6 through Netflix streaming.
Watch the trailer for the second season of Orange is the New Black here:
