Prison chief puts himself in solitary confinement

Colorado's prison chief decided to put himself through 20 hours of solitary confinement. "Fox & Friends" explains why.

'Rick Raemisch, he is Colorado's new chief of corrections. He spent 20 hours in a seven by 13-foot cell. The reason? He wanted to put himself in the prisoner's shoes.'

Raemisch says he wanted to learn more about Colorado's solitary confinement system, also known as "administrative segregation" there.

In an article for The New York Times, Raemisch writes that even though those who are put in solitary confinement have committed very serious crimes, he doesn't think the use of it is justified.

In an interview with KMGH, Raemisch says there are only eight prisoners left in solitary confinement in Colorado. He's making it his goal to cut that number to zero.

'We've come to the realization that you just can't treat people like that. We have maximum security facilities, we have people that are well trained on how to handle dangerous people, yet we feel they're too dangerous to be in the general population.'

Raemisch also told KMGH he experienced "mental anguish" during his 20 hours in solitary confinement.

On average, a prisoner put in solitary confinement in Colorado stays there for 20 months.