David “Joey” Pedersen was arrested in 1997 for armed robbery. He was 16 years old, had been taking the antidepressant Zoloft for years (which he continued to take throughout his incarceration), and was determined to have a “slight” potential for violence. Due to Oregon’s Measure 11, he was charged as an adult. Pedersen joined prison gangs and […]
On September 4th, Alexander County Circuit Court Judge Charles Cavaness temporarily halted Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s plan to close the Tamms supermax prison, where hundreds of inmates have been held in solitary confinement. The ruling came days after an arbitrator ruled that the Governors plan was in violation of union contracts. Prison union employees with […]
The following comes from Georgia prisoner Carlos Grier, also known as Mr. BigMann. Grier was convicted in 1999 for the shooting death of a girlfriend (he maintains his innocence). For over two years, he has been incarcerated at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison’s Special Management Unit, where 192 inmates are held in solitary confinement. […]
The San Francisco Chronicle today ran an op-ed called “The Crime of Punishment at Pelican Bay State Prison.” The author is Gabriel Reyes, who has spent 16 years in solitary confinement (and whose artwork is featured on the left). The brief, powerful piece begins this way: For the past 16 years, I have spent at […]
The title of this post is the title of an article that appeared in yesterday’s New York Law Journal by Michael Mushlin, professor at Pace Law School and a longtime advocate for the reduction and reform of solitary confinement. As Mushlin points out, the prison population in New York State has dropped by 16.75 percent in […]
In Texas, some 8,100 prisoners are in administrative segregation, which is what the state calls solitary confinement. They are held in isolation in cells that measure 6 x 9 feet for 23 hours a day, with one hour to exercise in a small, fenced yard. More than 2,000 of them have a diagnosis of serious mental […]
The following comes from Joseph Stanwick, who has been in solitary confinement for 17 years. Currently incarcerated in Texas’ Gib Lewis High Security Facility, he writes, “I’ve seen men cut on themselves with razor blades, go on hunger strikes for the most absurd reasons, beat on the walls and doors…because solitary confinement/isolation can drive you loony.” One […]