Pelican Bay State Prison Archives

Pelican Bay State Prison

New this week from Solitary Watch: • In an essay in our Voices from Solitary series, Cesar Villa offers a searing account of living in prolonged solitary confinement in a Security Housing Unit, or SHU, at California’s notorious Pelican Bay State Prison. “We’re only here to die. The prison administration is paid to put us down. […]

Seven Days in Solitary

Pelican Bay State Prison

Seven Days in Solitary [10/5/22]

Voices from Solitary: Living in a California SHU

Inside the Hole: Enduring Solitary Confinement in California

Voices from Solitary: The “Life Negating Emptiness” of the Pelican Bay SHU

Voices from Solitary: “Where Cold, Quiet and Emptiness Come Together”

Voices from Solitary: The Safari from Pelikkkan Bay

Voices from Solitary: Message from a Solitary Confinement Survivor for People Under Self-Quarantine

Seven Days in Solitary [5/4/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [5/12/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [6/16/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [7/21/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [4/27/14]

Seven Days in Solitary [3/22/2015]

Seven Days in Solitary [9/27/2015]

Seven Days in Solitary [7/24/2016]

Seven Days in Solitary [10/22/17]

Seven Days in Solitary [7/22/18]

Seven Days in Solitary [8/5/18]

Seven Days in Solitary [10/21/18]

Fourteen Days in Solitary [12/29/21]

“As Long As Solitary Exists, They Will Find a Way to Use It”: Five Years After California’s Prison Hunger Strike

Three Unforgettable Stories from Inside Solitary Confinement

One Year Anniversary of Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement

One Year After Historic Hunger Strike, Isolated California Prisoners Report Little Change

Political or Gang Activity? “New Afrikan” Prisoners in Solitary Confinement

Former Hostage in Iran Reports on Solitary Confinement in California

Suicide in Solitary: The Death of Alex Machado

The Odyssey to Pelican Bay: Families Journey to California’s Notorious Supermax Prison

California Considers New Rules for Solitary Confinement in State Prisons