Solitary Confinement

Author : Lisa Guenther
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Page : 454 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2013-08-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780816686278

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Solitary Confinement by Lisa Guenther Pdf

Prolonged solitary confinement has become a widespread and standard practice in U.S. prisons—even though it consistently drives healthy prisoners insane, makes the mentally ill sicker, and, according to the testimony of prisoners, threatens to reduce life to a living death. In this profoundly important and original book, Lisa Guenther examines the death-in-life experience of solitary confinement in America from the early nineteenth century to today’s supermax prisons. Documenting how solitary confinement undermines prisoners’ sense of identity and their ability to understand the world, Guenther demonstrates the real effects of forcibly isolating a person for weeks, months, or years. Drawing on the testimony of prisoners and the work of philosophers and social activists from Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty to Frantz Fanon and Angela Davis, the author defines solitary confinement as a kind of social death. It argues that isolation exposes the relational structure of being by showing what happens when that structure is abused—when prisoners are deprived of the concrete relations with others on which our existence as sense-making creatures depends. Solitary confinement is beyond a form of racial or political violence; it is an assault on being. A searing and unforgettable indictment, Solitary Confinement reveals what the devastation wrought by the torture of solitary confinement tells us about what it means to be human—and why humanity is so often destroyed when we separate prisoners from all other people.

Author : Albert Woodfox
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2019-03-12
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781443458368

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Solitary by Albert Woodfox Pdf

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE IN GENERAL NONFICTION FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION Named One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2019 Named the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Book of the Year Named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Publishers Weekly, BookBrowse, and Literary Hub Winner of the BookBrowse Award for Best Debut of 2019 A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Solitary is the unforgettable life story of a man who served more than four decades in solitary confinement?in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell, 23 hours a day, in notorious Angola prison in Louisiana?all for a crime he did not commit. That Albert Woodfox survived was, in itself, a feat of extraordinary endurance against the violence and deprivation he faced daily. That he was able to emerge whole from his odyssey within America’s prison and judicial systems is a triumph of the human spirit, and makes his book a clarion call to reform the inhumanity of solitary confinement in the U.S. and around the world. Arrested often as a teenager in New Orleans, inspired behind bars in his early twenties to join the Black Panther Party because of its social commitment and code of living, Albert was serving a 50-year sentence in Angola for armed robbery when on April 17, 1972, a white guard was killed. Albert and another member of the Panthers were accused of the crime and immediately put in solitary confinement by the warden. Without a shred of actual evidence against them, their trial was a sham of justice that gave them life sentences in solitary. Decades passed before Albert gained a lawyer of consequence; even so, sixteen more years and multiple appeals were needed before he was finally released in February 2016. Remarkably self-aware that anger or bitterness would have destroyed him in solitary confinement, sustained by the shared solidarity of two fellow Panthers, Albert turned his anger into activism and resistance. The Angola 3, as they became known, resolved never to be broken by the grinding inhumanity and corruption that effectively held them for decades as political prisoners. He survived to give us Solitary, a chronicle of rare power and humanity that proves the better spirits of our nature can thrive against any odds.

Author : Michael Jackson
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 1983-12-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781487590505

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Prisoners of Isolation by Michael Jackson Pdf

What is it really like in 'the hole'? On what basis do prison officials employ the most drastic of carceral punishments – solitary confinement – and to what effect? Michael Jackson, lawyer, professor, activist, made a point of finding out. Approached in 1974 by a group of prisoners in the British Columbia Penitentiary, Jackson listened to their stories, investigated, and became convinced that these prisoners were being held in solitary confinement under unlawful conditions and for arbitrary and unjustified reasons. He then helped launch proceedings on their behalf to have the imposition of solitary confinement in the B.C. Penitentiary declared 'cruel and unusual punishment.' Jackson sets out the facts and legal arguments presented to the Federal Court of Canada against a background of the historical evolution of solitary confinement and penitentiary discipline. Successfully argued, the McCann case (1975) was unique in Canadian judicial history. Since then Jackson has remained in close touch with his prison contacts, maintaining a watching brief on whether prison practice has conformed to the rule of the law. He traces the continuation of solitary confinement in the newest of Canada's maximum security institutions and describes the conditions in the 'special handling units,' the most recent addition to Canada's 'carceral archipelago.' It is clear from his findings that prison officials continue to violate human rights. Though Jackson eschews sensationalism, the raw facts and the record of direct testimony he presents make Prisoners of Isolation a disturbing book.

Author : Jules Lobel,Peter Scharff Smith
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 397 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780190947927

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Solitary Confinement by Jules Lobel,Peter Scharff Smith Pdf

"The use of solitary confinement in prisons became common with the rise of the modern penitentiary during the first half of the nineteenth century and his since remained a feature of many prison systems all over the world. Solitary confinement is used for a panoply of different reasons although research tells us that these practices have widespread negative health effects. Besides the death penalty, it is arguably the most punitive and dangerous intervention available to state authorities in democratic nations. Nevertheless, in the United States there are currently an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 prisoners in small cells for more than 22 hours per day with little or no social contact and no physical contact visits with family or friends. Even in Scandinavia, thousands of prisoners are placed in solitary confinement every year and with an alarming frequency. These facts have spawned international interest in this topic and a growing international reform movement, which includes researchers, litigators, and human rights defenders as well as prison staff and prisoners. This book is the first to take a broad international comparative approach and to apply an interdisciplinary lens to this subject. In this volume neuroscientists, high-level prison officials, social and political scientists, medical doctors, lawyers, and former prisoners and their families from different countries will address the effects and practices of prolonged solitary confinement and the movement for its reform and abolition"--

Author : Sharon Shalev
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2013-05-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781134026746

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Supermax by Sharon Shalev Pdf

This book examines the rise and proliferation of 'Supermaxes', large prisons dedicated to holding prisoners in prolonged and strict solitary confinement, in the United States since the late 1980s. Drawing on unique access to two Supermax prisons and on in-depth interviews with prison officials, prison architects, current and former prisoners, mental health professionals, penal, legal, and human rights experts, it provides a holistic view of the theory, practice and consequences of these prisons. Given the historic uses of solitary confinement, the book also traces continuities and discontinuities in its use on both sides of the Atlantic over the last two centuries. It argues that rather than being an entirely 'new' form of imprisonment, Supermax prisons draw on principles of architecture, surveillance and control which were set out in the early 19th century but which are now enhanced by the most advanced technologies available to current day prison planners and administrators. It asks why a form of confinement which had been discredited in the past is now proposed as the best solution for dealing with 'difficult', 'dangerous' or 'disruptive' prisoners, and assesses the true costs of Supermax confinement.

Author : Jean Casella,James Ridgeway,Sarah Shourd
Publisher : New Press, The
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2014-11-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781620971383

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Hell Is a Very Small Place by Jean Casella,James Ridgeway,Sarah Shourd Pdf

“An unforgettable look at the peculiar horrors and humiliations involved in solitary confinement” from the prisoners who have survived it (New York Review of Books). On any given day, the United States holds more than eighty-thousand people in solitary confinement, a punishment that—beyond fifteen days—has been denounced as a form of cruel and degrading treatment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Now, in a book that will add a startling new dimension to the debates around human rights and prison reform, former and current prisoners describe the devastating effects of isolation on their minds and bodies, the solidarity expressed between individuals who live side by side for years without ever meeting one another face to face, the ever-present specters of madness and suicide, and the struggle to maintain hope and humanity. As Chelsea Manning wrote from her own solitary confinement cell, “The personal accounts by prisoners are some of the most disturbing that I have ever read.” These firsthand accounts are supplemented by the writing of noted experts, exploring the psychological, legal, ethical, and political dimensions of solitary confinement. “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for twenty-three hours a day, for months, sometimes for years at a time? That is not going to make us safer. That’s not going to make us stronger.” —President Barack Obama “Elegant but harrowing.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A potent cry of anguish from men and women buried way down in the hole.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author : Keramet Reiter
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 313 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2016-10-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780300224559

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23/7 by Keramet Reiter Pdf

How America’s prisons turned a “brutal and inhumane” practice into standard procedure Originally meant to be brief and exceptional, solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has become long-term and common. Prisoners spend twenty-three hours a day in featureless cells, with no visitors or human contact for years on end, and they are held entirely at administrators’ discretion. Keramet Reiter tells the history of one “supermax,” California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, whose extreme conditions recently sparked a statewide hunger strike by 30,000 prisoners. This book describes how Pelican Bay was created without legislative oversight, in fearful response to 1970s radicals; how easily prisoners slip into solitary; and the mental havoc and social costs of years and decades in isolation. The product of fifteen years of research in and about prisons, this book provides essential background to a subject now drawing national attention.

Author : Ian Manuel
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2022-04-19
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781984897985

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My Time Will Come by Ian Manuel Pdf

The inspiring story of activist and poet Ian Manuel, who at the age of fourteen was sentenced to life in prison. He survived eighteen years in solitary confinement—through his own determination and dedication to art—until he was freed as part of an incredible crusade by the Equal Justice Initiative. “Ian is magic. His story is difficult and heartbreaking, but he takes us places we need to go to understand why we must do better. He survives by relying on a poetic spirit, an unrelenting desire to succeed, to recover, and to love. Ian’s story says something hopeful about our future.” —Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy The United States is the only country in the world that sentences thirteen- and fourteen-year-old offenders, mostly youth of color, to life in prison without parole. In 1991, Ian Manuel, then fourteen, was sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime. In a botched mugging attempt with some older boys, he shot a young white mother of two in the face. But as Bryan Stevenson, attorney and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, has insisted, none of us should be judged by only the worst thing we have ever done. Capturing the fullness of his humanity, here is Manuel’s powerful testimony of growing up homeless in a neighborhood riddled with poverty, gang violence, and drug abuse—and of his efforts to rise above his circumstances, only to find himself, partly through his own actions, imprisoned for two-thirds of his life, eighteen years of which were spent in solitary confinement. Here is the story of how he endured the savagery of the United States prison system, and how his victim, an extraordinary woman, forgave him and bravely advocated for his freedom, which was achieved by an Equal Justice Initiative push to address the barbarism of our judicial system and bring about “just mercy.” Full of unexpected twists and turns as it describes a struggle for redemption, My Time Will Come is a paean to the capacity of the human will to transcend adversity through determination and art—in Ian Manuel’s case, through his dedication to writing poetry.

Author : Jimmy Tarrant
Publisher : Xulon Press
Page : 134 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2009-05
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781607917342

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Solitary Confinement by Jimmy Tarrant Pdf

From the pits of addiction to the mountain tops of recovery, come take a journey with an ordinary man named R. J.. Gain a deeper understanding of the heartache and pain caused by pornography use, and how it causes people to isolate themselves from what they really need to recover. Find hope for true freedom and release from solitary confinement. "This book not only reveals the truth of consequences, but also the hope that comes from God and His precious word. I commend this book to you without hesitation and ask that you give it careful consideration as to how God can set you free." Frank S. Page - Pastor, First Baptist Church Taylors, SC, former President of the Southern Baptist Convention "Jimmy Tarrant has given a great gift to Christian men who need someone to say something helpful about the subject of pornography on the Internet." Marion D. Aldridge - Coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina "Tarrant offers hope, healing strategies, and scriptural encouragement to believers and non-believers seeking recovery from the pains and false promises of living with 'secret sin'." Edward H. Hammett - Author of Spiritual Leadership in a Secular Age, Professional Certified Coach "Jimmy's book helped me better understand the struggle men have with pornography; I could feel the anguish and heartache of R. J.." Connie Tarrant - Author's wife Having served as a youth minister, campus minister, and senior pastor, Jimmy Tarrant has over 25 years of ministerial experience. Currently, he is teaching high school math while working to start a new church (The Journey Community Church) in upstate South Carolina. He and his wife, Connie, are getting ready to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. The couple has two beautiful daughters, Gabrielle and Michaela. In his spare time, Jimmy is an avid fisherman.

Author : David Polizzi
Publisher : Policy Press
Page : 112 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2017-03-29
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781447337539

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Solitary Confinement by David Polizzi Pdf

Why is solitary confinement still used in today's world? Does it help in the rehabilitation of offenders? And how does our justification of its use affect policy? Answering these questions and posing many others, this is the first volume to consider both the developmental history of solitary confinement and the lived experience of those in confinement. Using philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of embodied subjectivity, this book provides firsthand accounts of the inhumane practice of solitary confinement, deepening our appreciation of the relationship between penal strategy and its effect on human beings. David Polizzi draws on his own experiences as a psychological specialist in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and interviews conducted in connection with the Guardian's 6x9 project--a virtual reality solitary confinement experience--to explore what the intentional aspect of this almost uninhabitable type of imprisonment says about any democratic society that continues to justify it. Aimed at policy makers, Solitary Confinement challenges the social attitudes that uncritically condone its use.

Author : Terry A. Kupers
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2017-09-05
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780520292239

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Solitary by Terry A. Kupers Pdf

“When I testify in court, I am often asked: ‘What is the damage of long-term solitary confinement?’ . . . Many prisoners emerge from prison after years in solitary with very serious psychiatric symptoms even though outwardly they may appear emotionally stable. The damage from isolation is dreadfully real.” —Terry Allen Kupers Imagine spending nearly twenty-four hours a day alone, confined to an eight-by-ten-foot windowless cell. This is the reality of approximately one hundred thousand inmates in solitary confinement in the United States today. Terry Allen Kupers, one of the nation’s foremost experts on the mental health effects of solitary confinement, tells the powerful stories of the inmates he has interviewed while investigating prison conditions during the past forty years. Touring supermax security prisons as a forensic psychiatrist, Kupers has met prisoners who have been viciously beaten or raped, subdued with immobilizing gas, or ignored in the face of urgent medical and psychiatric needs. Kupers criticizes the physical and psychological abuse of prisoners and then offers rehabilitative alternatives to supermax isolation. Solitary is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the true damage that solitary confinement inflicts on individuals living in isolation as well as on our society as a whole.

Author : Stephen C. Richards
Publisher : SIU Press
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2015-01-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780809333769

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The Marion Experiment by Stephen C. Richards Pdf

The Marion Experiment combines academic research with personal accounts by prisoners to investigate solitary confinement and supermax prisons. USP Marion became a model for supermax prisons, with many other prison systems—in the U.S. and abroad—copying the special architectural and program innovations there.

Author : Sharon Shalev
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 89 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Prisoners
ISBN : 0853283141

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A Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement by Sharon Shalev Pdf

Author : Mateo Hoke,Taylor Pendergrass
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2018-10-02
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1608469565

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Six by Ten by Mateo Hoke,Taylor Pendergrass Pdf

A collection of intimate portraits told directly by people whose lives have been devastated by solitary confinement in America.

Author : Jason Rezaian
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2019-01-22
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780062691590

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Prisoner by Jason Rezaian Pdf

The Inspiration for the New Podcast Featuring Jason Rezaian. “544 Days” is a Spotify original podcast, produced by Gimlet, Crooked Media and A24. The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for eighteen months and whose release—which almost didn’t happen—became a part of the Iran nuclear deal In July 2014, Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian was arrested by Iranian police, accused of spying for America. The charges were absurd. Rezaian’s reporting was a mix of human interest stories and political analysis. He had even served as a guide for Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. Initially, Rezaian thought the whole thing was a terrible misunderstanding, but soon realized that it was much more dire as it became an eighteen-month prison stint with impossibly high diplomatic stakes. While in prison, Rezaian had tireless advocates working on his behalf. His brother lobbied political heavyweights including John Kerry and Barack Obama and started a social media campaign—#FreeJason—while Jason’s wife navigated the red tape of the Iranian security apparatus, all while the courts used Rezaian as a bargaining chip in negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal. In Prisoner, Rezaian writes of his exhausting interrogations and farcical trial. He also reflects on his idyllic childhood in Northern California and his bond with his Iranian father, a rug merchant; how his teacher Christopher Hitchens inspired him to pursue journalism; and his life-changing decision to move to Tehran, where his career took off and he met his wife. Written with wit, humor, and grace, Prisoner brings to life a fascinating, maddening culture in all its complexity. “An important story. Harrowing, and suspenseful, yes—but it’s also a deep dive into a complex and egregiously misunderstood country with two very different faces. There is no better time to know more about Iran—and Jason Rezaian has seen both of those faces.” — Anthony Bourdain “Jason paid a deep price in defense of journalism and his story proves that not everyone who defends freedom carries a gun, some carry a pen.” —John F. Kerry, 68th Secretary of State