to subject prisoners to such an examination each time they entered the exercise yard to prevent them from concealing on their bodies small bits of wire or other material suitable for use as a weapon.


23
Hygienic conditions were at least minimally adequate to permit Sostre to remain clean and healthy.  Thus, Sostre was allowed to shave and shower with hot water once each week.  The furnishings of his normal-sized (6 ft. x 8 ft.) cell included a toilet and a face bowl with running cold water, and he was provided with soap and a towel.


24
The strictures on Sostre's intellectual fare were severe.  He could not buy or receive books, magazines or newspapers, and his access to the prison's library collection was limited to a selection amongapproximately thirty-five volumes, mostly 'shoot-em-ups' as Sostre described them, chosen by the prison guards.  Still, light from a single bulb, controlled by the guards and usually turned on early in the morning and off at 10 p.m., was adequate for reading.  And although he could not attend school or watch television, as could the inmates in the general population, any material related to the law requested by him would be brought to his cell.

3.  Length of Segregated Confinement

25
Pursuant to the usual practice at Green Haven, Sostre was sentenced to 'solitary' confinement for an indefinite period.  According to New York Correction Law Section 140, 'submissiveness' was to be the touchstone for his release.  Follette testified that Sostre could have returned to the general population