Interview

France: single-occupancy cells are possible

The rapid decline in prisoner numbers is a step towards adhering to the 1875 law.

In a matter of weeks, sanitary measures have resulted in a prison population decrease of at least 10,000. The reduction is unprecedented, but still insufficient according to some observers.
The National Union of Prison Directors (SNDP-CFDT, Syndicat national des directeurs pénitentiaires) sent an open letter to the President of the Republic on 20 April 2020 stating that it is “no longer possible to claim that single-occupancy cells are unachievable”.

Flavie Rault is the union’s secretary general and co-director of Santé Prison in Paris. Prison Insider asked her three questions.

If we do not insist on a maximum number of occupants in a given facility, we won’t succeed.

It requires the right amount of effort, at the right time, for the right person.