"We, the undersigned residents of Massachusetts, demand that the State of Massachusetts does a thorough, independent investigation of the use, misuse and abuse of the policies of Disciplinary Detention (24 hrs per day, segregation in Special Management Units for a maximum 30 days ONLY) and Administrative Segregation (23 hrs per day in cell) in our Department of Corrections facilities. We also demand that the appropriate modifications to these practices, many of which qualify as torture, be made immediately. It is widely known that the arbitrary use of segregation for non-violent actions, and the arbitrary lengths of segregation from several months to years, are commonplace abuses of power in all our corrections facilities, and are counterproductive to rehabilitation, inhumane, dangerous to the inmates, correctional officers and society, and illegal by DOC regulations, our state laws, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."