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BURIED ALIVE

Long-Term Isolation inCalifornia's Youth andAdult Prisons

By Laura Magnani

American Friends Service Committee—Oakland

May 2008

American FriendsService Committee

BURIED ALIVE

Long-Term Isolation inCalifornia's Youth andAdult Prisons

By Laura Magnani

American Friends Service Committee—Oakland

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

History 3

Conditions 4

California 5

The Way To the SHU-Or Who Isthe "Worst of the Worst"? 7

Parole, Snitch, or Die? 9

The Mental Illness Factor 9

Taking It To the Courts 12

Youth and Isolation 13

Human Rights Protocols 17

Recommendations 18

American FriendsService Committee

Acknowledgments

Deepest appreciation for help on this project goes first andforemost to three people: Angele Echele, a Metta Center forNonviolence Education intern working with us in the summer,

2007, Charity Denlinger, an intern this year from Pacific Schoolof Religion, and Toby Kramer, volunteer extraordinaire. Editorial

help came from many colleagues and committee members:Naima Black, Bonnie Kerness, Matthew Lowen, Caroline Isaacs,Natalie Holbrook, Eric Moon, Alan Lessik, Terry Kupers,Jay Conner, Naneen Karraker and Roy Bateman.

The real motivation and urgency around this report comes fromthe men, women, and children on the inside who have been

writing to us for years, sharing their stories, their pain and theirpoetry. It is for them and with them that we have compiled thismaterial and that we launch this campaign to stop the use of

long-term isolation.

Cover drawing: "Captive," by Todd Tarselli

Copyright © 2008 American Friends Service Committee.

Permission is granted to reproduce this material fornoncommercial educational use, provided such use creditsthe author and AFSC.

Printed copies of this report are available from the AFSC—Oakland Office Criminal Justice program. Single copies free

(donations welcome). Bulk orders 10 for $15.00 plus postage.

Published by:American Friends Service Committee

Pacific Mountain Region—Oakland Office1730 Franklin St., Suite 212

Oakland, CA 94612-3417(510) 238-8080

Naima Black, National STOPMAX CoordinatorAmerican Friends Service Committee

1501 Cherry St.

Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479(215) 241-7137

BURIED ALIVE: Long-Term Isolation in California's Youth and Adult Prisons

INTRODUCTION

The American Friends Service Committee(AFSC) is launching a national campaign,called STOPMAX, in May 2008, calling for

the end of the use of solitary confinement in U.S.prisons. It is the successor of a campaign whichBonnie Kerness, of the New York MetropolitanRegion of the AFSC, conducted in the early1990s, when the development of security housingunits was beginning its ascent. In California,the premiere organization to focus on these new"maxi maxi prisons" has been California PrisonFocus (CPF). Under the leadership of Dr. CoreyWeinstein, Luis (Bato) Talamante/, CharlesCarbone, Georgia Schreiber, Leslie DeBenedetto,Judy Greenspan, and many others, CPF hasconducted interviews with prisoners in these unitsand reported their findings. AFSC owes a greatdebt to these courageous folks, along with ourbrothers and sisters inside who are living for yearsat a time under the extreme conditions describedherein. The other debt we owe is to the lawyersand psychiatrists who have challenged prisonconditions in California and stuck around fordecades to help monitor compliance. That wouldinclude the Prison Law Office, Don Specter, SteveFama, Sara Norman and others, as well as JaneKahn, of Rosen, Bien & Galvan, and Sarah Chesterfrom the California Appellate Project. On thepsychology end of things, Terry Kupers and CraigHaney have both made huge contributions inbringing horrific conditions to light. These folksare our heroes in this work. This is not a story thatthe public seems to want to hear. However, if we

continue to anesthetize ourselves to the horrorsbeing committed in our names, there is no hopefor positive change.

In May 2007, the AFSC Arizona office publishedBuried Alive: Solitary Confinement in Arizona'sPrisons and Jails. This report is intended to be theCalifornia story of isolation in the state prisonsand juvenile facilities.

A cautionary note is necessary. Many of thestatistics offered are estimates based on the researchwe have been able to do. Often the CaliforniaDepartment of Corrections and Rehabilitation(CDCR) doesn't keep statistics, especially abouttopics that may reflect on it negatively. Just aspolice departmentshave resistedefforts to requirethem to collectracial informationabout the arreststhey make, racialinformation aboutwho is held in theharshest conditions in our prisons is not routinelydocumented. However, from the direct contactAFSC has had with these institutions, and with theinterviews CPF has conducted for many years, webelieve the portrait depicted here to be accurate.It is not a pretty picture. In fact, the extent of theabuse and horror we found astounded even themost seasoned among us. Readers are cautionedthat the material in these pages is graphic anddisturbing at a very deep level.

. . . the extent

of the abuse and

horror we found

astounded even

the most seasoned

among us.


"Jumah al Dossari, a thirty-three-year-old Bahraininational, is the father of a young daughter. He hasbeen held at Guantanamo Bay for more than fiveyears. In addition to being detained without chargeor trial, Dossari has been subjected to a range ofphysical and psychological abuses, some of whichare detailed in Inside the Wire, an account of theGuantanamo prison by former military intelligencesoldier Erik Saar. He has been held in solitaryconfinement since the end of 2003 and, accordingto the U. S. military, has tried to kill himself twelvetimes while in the prison. On one occasion, hewas found by his lawyer, hanging by his neck andbleeding from a gash to his arm."

Death Poem

Take my blood.Take my death shroud andThe remnants of my body.Take photographs of my corpse at the grave,

lonely.

Send them to the world,To the judges andTo the people of conscience,Send them to the principled men

and the fair-minded.

And let them bear the guilty burden,before the world,

Of this innocent soul.Let them bear the burden, before their children

and before history,Of this wasted, sinless soul,Of this soul which has suffered at the hands

of the "protectors of peace."

— by Jumah Al Dossari1

1 Reprinted from Poems from Guantanamo by Marc Falkhoff,with the permission of the University of Iowa Press.

What Is a Supermax?

"I'm a prisoner, not a puppet.. .A man, not ananimal.. .And although I've endured this hell, Iwill never accept it" (Corcoran Security HousingUnit prisoner, 2006)

Solitary confinement is known by various namesin prison systems, depending on the facility:supermax units, management control units,secure housing units (SHU), closed custody units,separation, special management units (SMU),Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) and theAdjustment Center. This report will focus on theuse of long-term isolation.

Generally in correctional settings, there aretwo types of segregation: disciplinary andadministrative. Disciplinary segregation, referredto by prisoners as "the hole," is applied as a short-term punishment for breaking prison rules. Bycontrast, administrative segregation is reserved forthose prisoners deemed to pose a serious risk toother prisoners, and is carried out often, but notexclusively, in independent, supermax facilities.

Although both types of segregation are thought tohave a sensory deprivation environment, it is oftenthe case that they constitute a sensory overload,with yelling, clanging of doors, loud commandsshouted by staff, etc. Conditions in these unitsalso involve severe loss of privileges, such as accessto phones, showers, and outdoor recreation. Thedifference is that administrative segregation isnow being used over extended periods of time(six months to several years), sometimes for theperson's entire sentence. In Laura Sullivan's 2006National Public Radio series, "Life in SolitaryConfinement," she states that most prisoners heldin solitary confinement throughout the U.S. "havebeen there for more than five years." Increasingly,people are being sent straight to such unitswithout ever spending time in the general prison


population. Many are then being released directlyback to their communities.

In addition to SHUs and SMUs, there is anotherversion of isolation unit, most commonly called"Protective custody." Protective custody is usedfor people who would themselves be in dangerif placed in the general population. Sometimesa prisoner is placed in protective custody at hisor her request. More frequently, the institutionmakes that determination. Gay, transgender andgender variant prisoners are often housed in theseunits, whether or not they request it, and arethereby denied equal access to visits, phone calls,job opportunities, and educational offerings. InCalifornia and elsewhere in the U.S., departmentsof corrections often do not have the facilities toprovide general population level programs forprisoners separated for their own protection, sothey throw them into some kind of segregationunit. The people from whom they are beingprotected may be placed in Ad Seg or SHU—inthe same unit where those requiring protectionare being held. This is a violation of AmericanCorrections Association standards, which requireprotective custody with the same programs andamenities that would be available to that prisonerif he or she was not in protection. It should also besaid that recently, in California, some protectivecustody prisoners are being sent to "SensitiveNeeds Yards" which provide greater access to yardtime, vocational and other kinds of education. Itis not clear how many have access to this broaderrange of programs.

Although this report focuses primarily on securityhousing units, our concern is with long-termisolation of any kind. Therefore our statistics,though hard to verify precisely, include estimatesof the broader use of lock-down facilities inCalifornia Department of Corrections andRehabilitation (CDCR) prisons.

HISTORYn 1972, a new type of prison unit wasestablished in the Marion Federal Penitentiaryin Illinois. Called the Management Control

Unit, the facility was described by one prisoner asa "prison within the prison." Marion was not builtas a control unit. Following an incident in whicha guard was killed, a large part of the penitentiarywas essentially converted into one. This promptedthe building of prisons for the specific purpose ofsolitary confinement, beginning with the buildingof the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) inFlorence, Colorado. In these places, prisoners wereheld in solitary confinement for extended periodsof time, with few opportunities for exercise,showers, or rehabilitative programming. At thetime, the Marion control unit held sixty prisoners,and was one of a handful of such units aroundthe country. In 1985, there were approximatelyhalf a dozen such units. According to a 2003AFSC report, by 1997, forty-five states, the FederalBureau of Prisons, and the District of Columbiawere operating control units.2

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports adramatic increase in the use of isolation in U.S.prisons between1995 and 2000. The U.S. Bureau

During that period, of Justice Statisticsthe Commission

„ r , reports a dramaticon Safety andAbuse in America's increase in the

Prisons found that use of isolation"the growth rateof the number ofprisoners housed between 1995

in segregation and 2000.far outpaced thegrowth rate of the overall prison population:

in U.S. prisons

2 Kamel, Rachael, and Bonnie Kerness, The Prison Inside thePrison: Control Units, Supermax Prisons, and Devices of Torture.Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee, 2003.


40 percent compared to 28 percent." In 2002,Human Rights Watch reported that over 20,000prisoners, almost 2 percent of the U.S. prisonpopulation, were being held in long-term solitaryconfinement.3 Last year, Kevin Johnson reportedin USA Today that 70,000 people were housed inisolation nationwide.4

The advent of these highly secure facilitiescoincided with the huge prison building boombegun in the 1980s. The number of peopleincarcerated in the U.S. quintupled, nationally,in a 25-year period, "with no increase inresources devoted to corrections in general, orto programming and mental health services inparticular" (Haney & Zimbardo, 1998). Indeed,rehabilitation as a goal of imprisonment wasabandoned wholesale and security housing unitsbecame the emblem of the intensified punishmentmodel. The fact that solitary confinement hadbeen tried periodically from the invention ofthe penitentiary onward, and was abandoned onboth effectiveness grounds and decency grounds,was completely ignored. Trop v. Dulles (1958),is one example of litigation underscoring theineffectiveness and indecency of solitary.

CONDITIONS

Prisoners in supermax units often areconfined alone in single cells; two prisonersare often held in 6' x 10' cells. (If there is

anything worse, or perhaps more dangerousthan isolation, it is isolation and idleness with acellmate.) The cells contain only the most basicof accommodations, generally a double bunkbed, a toilet and sink, and possibly anotherprotruding slab for a desk. Prisoners describeeither an "eerie silence" in the units, stemming

3 IBID.4 Johnson, Kevin, "Inmate suicides linked to solitary," USAToday, December 27,2006.

from the cells being entirely soundproof, or theopposite: a din of constant noise—includingyelling and screaming—twenty-four hours a day.Most cells have no windows and it is impossiblefor a prisoner to know whether it is night or day.Prisoners often complain of the lights being lefton twenty-four hours per day, causing them tolose track of time entirely. Of course, withoutwindows, confinement in the dark would be evenworse.

Contact with other human beings is extremelylimited. Prisoners eat alone in their cells andare permitted to exercise alone in a cage orconcrete room for approximately 30 minutes aday. Most interaction with staff occurs througha slot in the steel door through which food andother items are passed to the prisoner. Cell"shakedowns" are common, and prisoners areroutinely strip searched before leaving their cellsfor any reason and again upon their return. Thesesearches frequently include body cavity searches.Educational or rehabilitative programming is rare.They are not permitted to hold prison jobs. Visits,telephone calls, and mail are severely restrictedand reading material is censored. Access toprison "programs," such as classes, AA groups, orcounseling is nonexistent.

A common practice in these units is "cellextraction." This is a procedure, used at thediscretion of the prison administration, whereprisoners are confronted with from four to sixriot-clad officers, batons drawn, descendingupon the prisoner, often hog tying him/her, andremoving him/her from the cell. This could beprecipitated by something the prisoner is allegedto have done, or by information the prison hasgathered suggesting some kind of security breachthat inspires maximum force. We name it here asa "condition," because it appears to be part of thelandscape of this form of harsh punishment.


CALIFORNIA

C alifornia State Prison, Corcoran (Corcoran)was California's first state prison toisolate prisoners in a supermax unit. It

began in 1988, and one year later, Californiaopened its first prison specifically designed as asupermax: Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) inCrescent City. California is one of more thanforty states with specially designed supermaxfacilities.5 As outlined above, the names of theseunits vary from state to state and jurisdictionto jurisdiction. In California, the term SecurityHousing Unit or "SHU," is used. As the CDCRstates on its website, "PBSP is designed to houseCalifornia's most serious criminal offendersin a secure, safe, and disciplined institutionalsetting."6 Upon closer inspection, questionsarise regarding the validity of this statement.Are SHUs actually housing the "most serious"criminal offenders? Are the settings helpful or

harmful to the institution as a whole? This reportwill attempt to answer these questions.

Aside from Pelican Bay, there are four other SHUsin operation in the CDCR: California State Prison,Corcoran (COR); the California CorrectionalInstitution (CCI), in Tehachapi; High Desert StatePrison in Susanville(HDSP); and theValley State Prisonfor Women (VSPW),in Chowchilla.Statistics from theCDCR reported inApril 2008 showed

The total number

of people in

long-term lock

down in California

on a given day

exceeds 14,600Pelican Bay with1,101 SHU prisoners, Corcoran with 1,318, CCIwith 775, HDSP with 400, and VSPW with 72. Inaddition, on a given day, approximately 7,354 menand 119 women are held in Ad Seg. Another 256

5 Sullivan, Laura, "Life in Solitary Confinement." NationalPublic Radio, July 26,2006.6 "Pelican Bay State Prison—Mission Statement,"http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/Facilities/PBSP.html.

Exercise cages, San Quentin(Artist: Kendal Au)


people are in psychiatric lock down units and anestimated 1-2 percent of the total population isheld in protective custody.7 The count then, forprotective custody estimated at 1.5 percent wouldbe 2,580, based on an approximate population of170,000 as of this writing. The total number ofpeople in solitary in California would be 14,529.

Added to those numbers are the 80-100 men inthe Adjustment Center (AC) of California's deathrow. All prisoners sent to death row start outin lock down, usually for an assessment periodof approximately 90 days. For a prisoner to betransferred out of the AC, prison officials mustdetermine that the prisoner has no recent violence,no gang affiliation, and is not an escape risk.People found to have any of these characteristicscan be kept in AC indefinitely. They are allowedonly nine hours a week out of their cells, no phoneaccess, one package a year (compared to quarterlypackages available to most prisoners) and a morelimited canteen draw. At present it appears thatthe largest indeterminate AC population on deathrow is alleged to have ties to the Mexican Mafia.The second largest category that we have been ableto determine anecdotally is people seen to haveconnections to the Aryan Brotherhood. The ACalso includes condemned mentally ill prisonerswho have been "acting out." The AC cells are 7' x 6'compared to 4l/2 x 11' in a regular death row cell.

Of the fifteen women on death row in California,all are single celled, but are allowed out of theircells for "pod time"—that is, time in a commonarea where they can visit with each other, usethe telephone, play games, etc. Women can beconfined to their cells and lose their pod time andother privileges for disciplinary infractions.

Assuming these calculations are correct, thetotal number of people in long-term lock downin California on a given day exceeds 14,600.

Table 1: California Isolation StatisticsIW^HP^HV^HVIHBP^Bill̂ H*̂ H*̂ HVIHWMH»̂ ^HP^̂ BP^HV^B*̂

SHU (Security Housing Units)*

Ad Seg (Administrative Segregation)*

Protective Custody*

PSU (Psychiatric Services Units)

HOP (Enhanced Outpatient Program)

Death Row AC (Adjustment Center)*

Total:

Men

3,570

7,500

2,550

313

356

90

14,379

Women

72

120

50

0

0

0

242

* estimate

Finally, we have recently learned that prisoners in"reception centers" are confined in double cellstwenty-three hours a day, with only thirty minutesout of the cell for breakfast and dinner. For themost part, they are not allowed access to religiousservices, classes or programs, or the recreationyard, although individual institutions may providesome yard time. These conditions last as long as ittakes to "process" incoming prisoners, anywherefrom three months to a year. The total number inreception as of April 3, 2008 was 28,381. Accordingto a volunteer at San Quentin State Prison (SQSP),the oldest state prison in California, "The despairI have seen at the reception center at San Quentinoutweighs that felt on death row.. .For the menlocked inside all day and night, it is excruciatinglystressful."

None of the above calculations takes intoconsideration the fact that whole institutions are"locked down" in California for months at a time.In these instances, prisoners are confined to theircells and recreation, classroom instruction, andvisits are drastically curtailed.

Human Rights Watch, 2001.


"My son was able to escape the frighteningconditions of4-A, one of two SHU units, (guardssetting up rooster fights and shooting from the tower)by reading—although he did experience one of theset up fights—not by choice. We all sent books, asmany as we could each month, and newspapers andmagazines which he passed along to others. But, inthis, reading and family, he was more fortunate thanmost.

"Because Corcoran was off in the middle of nowhereand the guard's union was so powerful, murder and

mayhem on the part of a few guards prevailed in4-A of the Corcoran SHU. Despite photos of yardfights and the Preston case, no guard was punished.It was almost as frightening to be a parent at thattime as to be a prisoner." (Parent of a SHU prisoner,California, 2008)

THE WAY TO THE SHU...or WhoIs the "Worst of the Worst"?

T'he California Department of Corrections andRehabilitation gives the following five reasonsfor remanding a prisoner to the SHU:

1. Attacking a guard.

2. Attacking another prisoner.

3. Weapons violations.

4. Drug sales.

5. Validation as a gang member.

AFSC's experience demonstrates that prisonerswith radical political views, prisoners whodemonstrate leadership abilities, and "jail houselawyers" are often held in the SHU—some ofthem for decades. We would be remiss if wedid not add this to the "official list." "SecurityThreat Groups" (STGs) is another classificationprisons use for people they consider a threat.In California, the term "Disruptive Group"

is used for such prisoners. These and similardesignations carry heavy political overtones. Justas the term "terrorist" is applied very broadlytoday, particularly to people of Arab descent,prisoners labeled "threatening," "dangerous,"or simply "disruptive" can find themselves inlong-term isolation. An argument can be madethat the first security housing units in the federalprison in Marion, and later in Florence, werecreated to punish political activists caught upin COINTELPRO, organizing for Puerto Ricanliberation, sovereignty for First Nations peoples,and other forms of self determination. Thoughpolitical prisoners make up a small portion of the2.3 million people currently imprisoned in theU.S., in AFSC's experience over the years, theymake up a disturbingly large percentage of thecontrol unit population.

According to the CDCR, the first four of theabove five reasons for segregating prisonerscarry determinate time periods in the SHU. TheDepartment claims that the average determinateterm for the SHU in 2005-2006 was 109 days.8While the first four reasons are behavior-based,the fifth reason for confinement is threat-based.In other words, prisoners are sent there not forsomething they did, but for who someone judgesthem to be. It is this reason that assigns a prisonerto a SHU for an indeterminate period of time.By law, all other reasons for SHU confinementrequire that a definite time be set, but the CDCRhas unlimited discretion to re-classify someonefrom determinate to indeterminate. In,otherwords, prisoners who have not actually doneanything are the ones who serve the longesttime in these units. According to State SenatorGloria Romero, "A validated gang member couldconceivably spend the rest of his life in a SHU."9

8 California Department of Corrections Population Report.9 Romero, Gloria, Select Senate Committee on the CaliforniaCorrectional System: Hearing, September 15, 2003.


Validation as a gang member comes about atthe discretion of prison staff. It is based oninformation, from at least three sources, thata person is involved in, or associated with,gang activities including drug trade, orderingattacks of adversaries in other prisoner groups,or orchestrating assaults or murders on theoutside. Half of the nearly 3,000 SHU prisonersin California are validated gang members. Theprocess used for determining their gang statusdoes not involve typical "due process" safeguards,such as the right to be represented or to know thebasis of the allegations.

The appeal process is highly frustrating and as faras the administrative level goes.. .appeals are lost,misplaced, or delayed regularly. Even when properlyfiled/reviewed, the complained violation is neveraddressed with any expediency or efficiency.. .Prisonofficials operate on a code of silence and will act veryslowly, if at all, to correct or hold one of their ownaccountable when they are found to be in violation.(Corcoran SHU Prisoner, 2006)

The Winter 2007 issue of Prison Focus fromCalifornia Prison Focus contained a letter fromVictor C. Rodriguez demonstrating that prisonersusing the Native American language "Nahautl"have been validated as gang members. He writes:"At any time, officers search cells and are instructedto confiscate our art, Nahuatl studies, and anyNahuatl literature. The reason, we're told: 'gang-related.' This is nothing but culture deprivation, aswell as racial discrimination."

According to CDCR officials, Californiauses a point system in its "formal validationinvestigation." An institutional gang investigatorgathers the "evidence." As little as three sourcesor points of evidence can validate a person.After gathering the evidence the investigatorwill sit down with the prisoner and discuss non-

confidential information, which the prisoner canthen attempt to rebut.

Our research paints a somewhat more arbitrarypicture. The use of the "gang" label by prisonauthorities is fraught with racial stereotyping andpolitical repression. What is sometimes labeleda gang could be a group of activist prisonerswho are organizing on their own behalf. Theactual definition of "gang", found in the CDCROperations Manual, reads:

"A gang is defined as any ongoing formal orinformal organization, association, or group of threeor more persons, which has a common name oridentifying sign or symbol whose members and/orassociates engage or have engaged on behalf of thatorganization, association, or group in two or moreillicit activities which include, but are not limitedto, planning, organizing, threatening, financing,soliciting or committing unlawful acts or acts ofmisconduct classified as serious pursuant to CCRSection 3^(5" (Sec. 52070.16)

In addition to this description, "recognizeddisruptive groups" include "revolutionary groups,""motorcycle gangs," "precursor gangs that mightbecome prison gangs," and "terrorist groups/affiliates." (Sec. 52070.17.4)

Despite the fact that 51 percent of the statessurveyed in a 1997 Department of Justicepublication did not have a uniform definition of agang or Security Threat Group (STG), individualsare "validated" as gang members by prison staffand administration. 80 percent did not have aformal validation process. Yet all but one statehad developed a STG policy and departments ofcorrections throughout the country have spentmillions of dollars identifying gang members,constructing "gang blocks" or units, and creating

8


programs to"debrief" gangmembers who arewilling to renouncetheir affiliation.10

As a result of these

As a result of

these practices,

a person can be

placed in the SHU

indefinitely, on

mere hearsay or the practices, a personcan be placed in the

slimmest evidence. O T T T T . J £ . ,SH U indefinitely, onmere hearsay or the

slimmest evidence. And because of the intenselyracial nature of gang designations, a person'sracial identity can be the primary motivator inthe "validation" process. Not surprisingly, thoseimprisoned in the gang units throughout theU.S. are primarily young people and/or peopleof color. Once isolated in one of these units,prisoners report that the only way to secure releaseis to "renounce, parole, or die." According toCDCR specifications, it is also possible to become"inactive," but this requires six years in the SHUwith no identified contact or gang related activity.

PAROLE, SNITCH, OR DIE?

H ow do SHU prisoners gain release fromsuch harsh conditions and find their wayback to the "mainline?" It is possible for a

prisoner to "debrief" with department officialsabout his or her gang experience. In some contextsthis is seen as "snitching" and comes with hugerisks to the person "giving evidence." As with allcoerced situations, desperation can cause peopleto say anything, or implicate anyone, just to findrelief. As human rights advocates have maintainedthroughout history, reliable information does notcome from torturing suspects.

Some SHU prisoners are serving fixedsentences and are released directly from solitaryconfinement. The danger to the public of suchpractices is self evident: people going fromextreme sensory deprivation, with little humancontact over a long period, have an extremelydifficult time transitioning to life outside.

"I also want to find out what happens when aprisoner paroles out of a SHU and back into acommunity. Since the year 2000, there have been403 paroles directly from SHUs in California. Therecord overall indicates that the vast majority goback in. The recidivism rate of a SHU is about 78percent. .. This recidivism rate is much higherthan a normal recidivism rate from a regular yard-out-into-the-community at 66percent." (SenatorGloria Romero, Chair, Senate Select Committeeon California Correctional System: Hearing,September 15, 2003.)

The finaKvay out, prisoners tell us, is death. Thismay come from "natural causes" or by suicide. AsKevin Johnson reported in USA Today, California,which has the largest state prison system in thenation, saw a total of 41 suicides in 2006. Of thosesuicides, 69 percent were in solitary confinementcells.11

THE MENTAL ILLNESS FACTOR

"Living behind these watts is a nightmare thatnever goes away. Many prisoners behind thesewalls are going crazy in record numbers, and arebecoming more violent than they have ever been intheir lives." (California SHU Prisoner)

t is a well-established fact that long-termisolation is detrimental to mental health."Empirical research on solitary and

supermax-like confinement has consistently10 Magnani, Laura, and Harmon L. Wray, Beyond Prisons:A New Interfaith Paradigm for Our Failed Prison System,Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006, p. 103.

11 Op. cit., Johnson.

9


and unequivocally documented the harmfulconsequences of living in these kinds ofenvironments." Studies undertaken over fourdecades corroborate such an assertion.12

As noted in a briefing paper by Human RightsWatch (HRW), "Prisoners subjected to prolongedisolation may experience depression, despair,anxiety, rage, claustrophobia, hallucinations,problems with impulse control, and an impaired

ability to think,Solitary

confinement can

cause a specific

kind of psychiatric

syndrome, which in

its worst stages can

lead to agitation,

hallucinations,

and a confused

psychotic state.

concentrate, orremember" (HRW,2000).

Harvard UniversityMedical Schoolpsychiatrist Dr.Stuart Grassian hasfound, and courtshave recognized,that solitaryconfinement cancause a specifickind of psychiatric

syndrome, which in its worst stages can leadto agitation, hallucinations, and a confusedpsychotic state. Symptoms can include randomviolence, self-mutilation, and suicidal behavior(Kerness 1996, p. 3).

In a series of interviews Craig Haney conductedwith 100 randomly selected Pelican Baysupermax prisoners, he found very high levelsof psychological and emotional trauma and ofpsychopathology.

Although Haney did not specifically test hissubjects for all the factors identified by Grassianas determining "SHU Syndrome," there were

Table 2: Symptoms of Psychological and Emotional Trauma

% Presence AmongPelican Bay SHU Prisoners

91

Symptom

Anxiety, nervousness

Headaches

Lethargy, chronic tiredness

Trouble sleeping

^Mpending nervous breakdown

Perspiring hands

Loss of appetite

Dizziness

Nightmares

Hands trembling

Tingling sensation

Fainting

84

84

70

68

68

56

55

51

19

17

Table 3: Psychopathological Effects of Prolonged Isolation

% Presence AmongPelican Bay SHU Prisoners

888886848377737167636144

4127

Symptom

Ruminations

Irrational anger

Oversensitivity to stimuli

Confused thought process

Social withdrawal

Chronic depression

Emotional flatness

Mood, emotional swings

Overall deterioration

Talking to self

Violent fantasies

Perceptual distortions

Hallucinations

Suicidal thoughts

12 Haney, Craig, "Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitaryand 'Supermax' Confinement" in Crime and Delinquency, Vol.49, No. 1, January 2003, pp. 124-156.

high percentages of prisoners suffering fromsimilar symptoms: heightened anxiety (91%),hyperresponsivity to external stimuli (86%), widemood swings (71%), aggressive fantasies (61%),perceptual distortions (44%), and hallucinations

10


(41%). An astounding 56 percent of the sampleexperienced at least five of these symptoms.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the percentageof prisoners with pre-existing mental conditionswho are assigned to these units. Two studies, oneconducted by Hodgins and Cote in 1991, andanother by Lowell, Cloyes, Allen and Rhodes in2000, found that 29 percent of prisoners in long-term segregation units had at least one predefinedindication of serious mental illness.13

There are a number of explanations for this. Oneis inadequate mental health treatment coupledwith a tendency for mentally ill prisoners to actout and break rules, especially when they have notbeen adequately treated for their mental disorder.Once in segregation, the conditions cause theirmental disorders to worsen, leading to longer SHUterms and more acting out.

In California, valiant efforts have been madeto challenge the treatment and conditions ofmentally ill prisoners, including those in SHU andAdministrative Segregation. The Madrid v. Gomezcase forced Pelican Bay State Prison to remove allmentally ill prisoners from its SHU and screenincoming prisoners to prevent their assignmentto SHU.14 Two new units, called PsychiatricServices Units (PSUs), were established for thesepsychiatric prisoners and two levels of servicesestablish minimum standards for their treatment.In Correctional Clinical Case Management(3CMS), prisoners are locked down in traditionalhousing units (not sensory deprivation units), apsychiatric technician checks on them daily, andthey have some form of contact with a professionalonce a week—either a one-on-one session or agroup session. Perhaps one of the eeriest featuresof these professional contacts is that the patient isusually removed from his/her cell (handcuffed,

shackled and searched) and placed in a cage(called a "treatment module"), for the durationof the "treatment" session. In group sessions, theprofessional conducts his/her "therapy" in a roomfull of cages.

cells, it is truly an

The other psychiatric designation is "enhanced"out patient services or EOPs. These prisonersreceive what is available to 3CMFs, and areallowed out of their cells for ten hours a weekin addition to thetime they need for For a Prisoner

showers and exercise. in one of theseThey are not doublecelled at PelicanBay, but may be experience of beingdouble celled at other buried alive.facilities. Prisonersheld in Administrative Segregation, primarily atCorcoran, Tehachapi, and the Central CaliforniaWomen's Facility, are usually double celled.

The Madrid v. Gomez decision only brought reliefto prisoners at Pelican Bay because that prison'sarchitecture, indeed the way it was intentionallydesigned, prohibits any visual contact with theoutside world. The only window a prisoner has isa narrow piece of glass on their doors, which looksout on a corridor or a wall. For a prisoner in oneof these cells, it is truly an experience of beingburied alive.

The other SHUs in the state were the subject ofthe Coleman v. Wilson case, which applies tomental health services throughout the system.15

A special master monitors implementation ofthe court's remedial plan and reports back to thecourt. Plaintiff's attorneys continue to do theirown monitoring and work closely with the specialmaster. One reported, "The Department has nosense of urgency that housing people in lock down

13 IBID, p. 142.14 The case is reported at 889 ESupp. 1146 (N.D. Cal. 1995). 15 The case is reported at 912 ESupp. 1282 (E.D. Cal. 1995).

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i."16 Califdmkforever is a problem."16 California had 43 suicidesin its facilities in 2007, 70 percent of which werein segregation units. The number was similar in2006. It amounts to 26 out of 100,000, twice thenational average for prison suicides.

TAKING IT TO THE COURTS

O ne of the most effective ways of challengingconditions inside prisons is to bring a civilsuit. In California, the Prison Law Office

and others have won repeatedly in the courts whenthey have challenged medical care, mental healthcare, excessive force, and conditions in juvenilefacilities. The following cases have directlychallenged conditions in solitary confinement:

Coleman v. Wilson — The court found thatthe entire mental health system operated by theCalifornia Department of Corrections (nowCDCR) was unconstitutional and that prisonofficials were deliberately indifferent to the needsof mentally ill inmates. All 33 institutions in theCDCR are presently being monitored by a court-appointed special master to evaluate the CDCR'scompliance with the court's order.

Madrid v. Gomez — Conditions at California's"super-maximum" Pelican Bay State Prison havebeen subject to injunctions aimed at eliminatingexcessive force, improving health care andremoving prisoners with mental illness from theSecurity Housing Unit. As a result of this case,Pelican Bay is currently being monitored by acourt-appointed special master.

Farrell v. Hickman — In January 2005,California officials and the Prison Law Officereached an agreement on a schedule for reformingthe juvenile justice system and creating a systemthat is rehabilitative and provides a therapeutic

environment for juvenile offenders. Underpressure from the Prison Law Office, Californiacorrectional officials agreed to bring in nationalexperts to help design a new state rehabilitativejuvenile justice system. The agreement is set forthin a "stipulation" filed on December 1, 2005.17

In April 2006, a team of national experts releaseda comprehensive report describing the problems inCalifornia's juvenile justice facilities as the resultof a "broken" system that is both overly-expensiveand ineffective. The report recommended variousreforms, including a new management structure,and urged the state to focus efforts on reducingthe level of violence in its youth facilities.18

While each of these cases is significant inestablishing a record and determining legalfindings, implementation has been extremelydifficult. Again and again a "special master" wasappointed, or, in the case of prison healthcare,the entire health system was placed into federalreceivership. Reports were written. Attorneysreturn to court to exert more pressure, and verylittle changed. In February, 2008, Judge TheltonHenderson, who had placed the prison healthsystem into receivership, intervened to replacethe receiver with a new person, in hopes thatprogress would be made. This seems to point tothe difficulties faced both by outside and inside"experts" to remedy abuses and put humanesystems in place. The prison movement is deeplyindebted to the attorneys who fight these casesand to the courageous judges who uphold prisonerrights. However, the California Department ofCorrections and Rehabilitation seems consistentlyto be able to undermine the decisions and delaycompliance.19

16 Telephone conversation with Jane Kahn, April, 2008.

17 "Stipulation Regarding California Youth AuthorityRemedial Efforts," www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/CYASTIP.pdf.18 "Safety and Welfare Plan: Implementing Reform inCalifornia," www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/DJJSafetyPlan.pdf.19 For further information on these and other cases, seewww.prisonlaw.com.

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Plata v. Davis — In the largest ever prison classaction lawsuit, prisoners alleged that Californiaofficials inflicted cruel and unusual punishmentby being deliberately indifferent to serious medicalneeds. A settlement agreement filed in 2002requires the California Department of Correctionsto completely overhaul its medical care policiesand procedures, and to pump significant resourcesinto the prisons to ensure timely access toadequate care. The settlement allows the state tophase in the new policies and procedures overseveral years and gives an independent medicalpanel the responsibility to audit the state'sprogress.

YOUTH AND ISOLATION

Background: Children Are Different

"Our society recognizes that juveniles differ fromadults in their decision-making capacities asreflected in laws regarding voting, driving, accessto alcoholic beverages, consent to treatment, andcontracting... Adolescents are cognitively andemotionally less mature than adults. They are lessable than adults to consider the consequences oftheir behavior, they are easily swayed by peers,and they may show poor judgment. We alsoknow that teens who have been victims of abuseor have witnessed violence may show increasedlevels of emotional arousal and a tendency tooverreact to perceived threats. Victims of childabuse and neglect are overrepresented amongincarcerated juveniles... Studies of this populationconsistently demonstrate a high incidence ofmental disorders, serious brain injuries, substanceabuse, and learning disabilities, which maypredispose to aggressive or violent behaviors. Inmany instances, these juveniles have not receivedadequate diagnostic assessments or interventions."—American Academy of Child and AdolescentPsychiatry, 2000.

n Buried Alive: Solitary Confinement inArizona s Prisons and Jails, a 2007 report forthe American Friends Service Committee,

Isaacs and Lowen describe the dangers ofincarceration, and especially the effects ofisolation of juveniles. Recent scientific researchreveals that children's brains develop more slowlythan previously believed. Using the relatively newtechnology of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),scientists have discovered that the frontal lobeof the brain—the area that governs emotions—undergoes far more change during adolescencethan in any other stage of life. Furthermore, thefrontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop.According to the Juvenile Justice Committee ofthe American Bar Association, "The evidence

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BURIED ALIVE: long-Term Isolation in California's Youth and Adult Prisons

is now strong that the brain does not cease tomature until the early 20s in those relevant partsthat govern impulsivity, judgment, planningfor the future, foresight of consequences, andother characteristics that make people morallyculpable..." These findings make a strong case notonly for re-examination of law enforcement andsentencing policies affecting juveniles, but also forscrutiny of juvenile conditions of confinement,particularly the use of isolation.

The Justice Policy Institute's 2006 review, Dangersof Detention, found a host of negative correlations

with the experienceThere is no of detention,

including indicationsthat it can exacerbatemental illness. Thereport cites one study

research to support

a theoretical

foundation for the

use of seclusion

with children.

showing that for one-third of incarceratedyouth diagnosedwith depression, the

onset of depression occurred after they begantheir incarceration. Even more troubling was thefinding that poor mental health and conditionsof confinement work together to make it morelikely that incarcerated teens will engage in self-harm and/or suicide. The Justice Policy Institutefound that "incarcerated youth experience fromdouble to four times the suicide rate of youth in thecommunity."

There is an overwhelming consensus in nationalcorrectional standards and among juvenile justiceexperts and social scientists that isolation is anineffective therapeutic tool that is harmful toyouth and normally unnecessary for the effectivemanagement of juvenile facilities (Zimmerman,2005). As Linda Finke's 2001 research on useof seclusion for youth in mental institutionsconcludes, "The experience actually may causeadditional trauma and harm. There is no research

to support a theoretical foundation for the use ofseclusion with children."

United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention ofJuvenile Delinquency prohibit holding childrenin "closed or solitary confinement or any otherpunishment that may compromise the physical ormental health of the juvenile concerned."

The most damning indictment of the practice ofisolating juveniles is found in the National Centeron Institutions and Alternatives 2004 reporton the correlation between isolation and youthsuicide in detention facilities. The research wasconducted by the U.S. Justice Department's Officeof Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention(OJJDP), and represents the first national surveyof juvenile suicide while in confinement. Thefindings are alarming. Out of 110 juvenile suicidesoccurring in juvenile correctional and detentionfacilities between 1995 and 1999, 50 percent ofvictims were on room confinement status at thetime of death, and 62 percent had a history ofroom confinement (National Center, 2003).20

California and Juveniles

The term for lock down in California's youthprisons (the Division of Juvenile Justice of theCDCR) is "special management program."According to the office of the Inspector General,"Wards in the special management programgenerally spend the majority of their time in theirrooms except for time allowed for showers andexercise. The other types of restricted programsfor wards generally occur by temporarilyrestricting wards to their already-assigned rooms.Specifically, wards assigned to any living unitcan be placed on temporary detention wherebythey are isolated in their rooms for short periods

20 Isaacs, Caroline, and Matthew Lowen, Buried Alive: SolitaryConfinement in Arizona's Prisons and Jails, Tucson, AZ: AmericanFriends Service Committee, 2007, p. 44.

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of time, generally a day or two, if they pose adanger to themselves or others or are themselvesendangered." However, the same report alsostates "Department policy also stipulates thatthe average length of assignment to the specialmanagement program to be 60 to 90 days."

The Inspector General said, "alternatively, anentire living unit or facility may be placed onadministrative lockdown due to an operationalemergency when it becomes necessary to restrict alarge number of wards." Each of these conditions(the individual or group restriction) results in arestricted program for a ward.21

Conditions in the so-called step down programinvolves wards eating meals in their rooms, beingprevented from attending school in a classroomaway from the unit, and only being allowedout of their room for up to two hours a day forrecreation. Dan Macallair, director of the Centerfor Juvenile and Criminal Justice described theeducation program as "sliding a lesson throughthe food slot."

Juvenile Demographics

Of the California youth facilities, the largest isHeman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility(Stark), with 1,200 "wards." Preston YouthCorrectional Facility (Preston) is second with 720,and N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility(Chad) is third, listed as having 600 wards.22

The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) reportsthe following racial breakdowns for its entirejuvenile population: 51% Hispanic; 31% AfricanAmerican; 13% White; 2% Asian; 1% Filipino;1% Native American; 1% Pacific Islander; 1%"other." The total population of youth in state

detention is 2,647, down from 10,000 just a fewyears ago. Though we do not have a separate racialbreakdown for people in the special managementprogram, an overall population of 87 percentpeople of color is shocking enough.

The largest number of youth in long-term lockdown were being held at Stark and Preston. Chadreported just 14 youth in "temporary detention,"which carried no actual time limit, and another25 in some kind of transitional placement, whichappeared to carry many of the same restrictions asthe locked down units.

A youth at Stark described the counselingprogram:

'"They're workbooks. Here. I'll show you.' Bringingme his 'counseling' workbook, Matt showed me theblanks he'd filled in. 'Your officer just flips throughto make sure something's written there, and marks itoff that you got counseling.'"23

Stark has instituted a policy of segregatingalmost all "Northern Hispanics" in the specialmanagement program, even though currentbehavioral indicators would not call for suchplacement. Stark staff felt that it was unsafeto house alleged Northern and Southern gangmembers together in General Population.24 Theresult is that all wards are under severe restriction.

Classification

There is no uniform classification system acrossinstitutions in the Department of Juvenile Justice.Although a Disciplinary Decision-Making System(DDMS) is being drafted, it was not completed as

21 Office of Inspector General Report, Stark, February 2007.22 "Data compiled by the Office of Public and EmployeeCommunications," www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/summarys.html.

23 Waheed, Sumayyah, "Youth prison tours: Heman G. Stark,"www.ellabakercenter.org, July 11, 2007.24 Krisberg, Barry, "DJJ Progress on the Standards and Crite-ria of the Safety and Welfare Remedial Plan," September 7,2007,http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/DJJ5thSMReportAppAB.pdf,5th SMReport of Special Master. Appendix A.

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There is

no uniform

classification

system across

institutions in the

Department of

Juvenile Justice.

of this writing. Based on site visits documented byBarry Krisberg of the National Council on Crimeand Delinquency, Preston and Stark each had their

own classificationprocedure. At Prestonthere was a pointsystem that addedor subtracted pointsfrom an initialclassification made byDDMS criteria. Starkdid not use a formalpoint system, butseems to assign wards

to units based on staff observations. As indicatedin the Office of the Inspector General's report onHigh Risk policies, "The special review also foundthat the facility's transitional program (at Chad),intended to help wards transition from its specialmanagement program, is essentially an extensionof the special management program withoutformal policies that provide critical protections forsuch a restricted program."25

Though there are a number of requirements abouthow long a ward can be locked down, and howmany educational services they should receive,there is no enforcement mechanism to ensurethese guidelines are followed. The CaliforniaEducation Code mandates a minimum offour hours a day of instruction for high schoolstudents. Section 7219 of the Institutions andCamps Branch Manual requires education servicesby the second day after placement in restrictedhousing. However, when the inspector generalselected six dates for examination in 2006, hecould find evidence that only two of the wards, ofthe 323 held in restricted housing, had receivedinstruction of any kind on those dates—less than1 percent (OIG Stark High Risk, February 2007).One teacher for the special management program

provided one hour of instruction per student perday. According to the Inspector General, at thatrate a ward would work with the teacher onceevery eighteen days. At Chad, the estimate wasthat youth receive approximately 40 percent of theeducational services required by law.

Conditions

In 2007, Barry Krisberg of the National Councilon Crime and Delinquency reported thefollowing: "I made a physical inspection ofrestricted units at Stark, Preston, and Chad andgenerally found that the conditions in these unitswere deplorable. The cells were dimly lighted,there was graffiti throughout the units, sanitationconditions were below standards of decency inthe rooms and in the hallways, and plumbing inthe cells worked intermittently or poorly... Thegeneral living conditions were, in my opinion,oppressive and punitive—certainly not conduciveto treatment and rehabilitation."

"Outside recreation for most youths in restrictedhousing is still limited to barren cage-likestructures with virtually no recreationalequipment. It is difficult to see how thisprogramming meets the legal standard for largemuscle exercise."26

25 Op cit. OIG, Stark, February 2007. 26 Op cit. Krisberg.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

As stated in AFSC's Arizona reporton supermax, Buried Alive: SolitaryConfinement in Arizona's Prisons and Jails,

"It is the position of the American FriendsService Committee that long-term solitaryconfinement is ineffective and inappropriatein all circumstances." To that end, the AFSC isembarking on a national STOPMAX campaign,which is being launched in May, 2008. However,understanding that significant social change takestime, and that violence within prisons is a seriousproblem, we propose a series of interim steps thatshould be taken as soon as possible to reduce theuse of isolation, and to increase oversight and dueprocess.

1. Wherever solitary confinement is used ingovernment-run institutions, or in privately-owned prisons, an independent body mustbe in place to monitor conditions and reportpublicly about its findings. Such an office mustbe adequately staffed, have full access to theinstitution, its records, and the prisoners heldthere, and the means to publish its reports andmake them widely available.

2. No juvenile should be held in solitaryconfinement conditions for longer thantwenty-four hours.

3. No person, of any age, with a history of orsymptoms of mental illness should be held insolitary confinement.

4. All persons placed in isolation, either fordisciplinary reasons or for administrativecontrol, must be given due process in atimely manner: to be represented by counsel,to see the evidence against them, to haveproceedings recorded, and to have their casesreviewed every six months.

5. Prisoners held in protective custody shouldhave access to the full range of programming,privileges, visits and other activities availableto people in the general prison population.

6. Transitional units should be established toenable prisoners to come out of isolation andprepare for life on the mainline or life onthe outside. All prisoners with release dateswithin six months must be given transitionalservices for no less than three months prior torelease. Such services must include psychiatriccomponents, pre-release counseling andplanning, socialization and life skills training.Under no circumstances should these servicesbe behavior modification programs thatimpose additional punishments. Neithershould they be provided primarily throughworkbook lessons assigned to individualsin isolation.

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