There is an ancient saying in politics that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
It appears that Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken this motto to heart when it comes to the issue of solitary confinement in California . Despite his supposed commitments to criminal justice reform , Newsom has demonstrated a callous disregard for the dark history of this problem in our state, and even undermined prospects for true reform.
I am a survivor of solitary confinement. I spent decades in isolation at the notorious Pelican Bay State Prison, not far from the Oregon border.
There are few forms of torture worse for the human soul than isolation. Solitary confinement is used to break people, and many who are exposed to it suffer permanent harms . It has been found to be damaging to the body , and the mind , and ultimately results in broader societal harms that have been documented.
That is why solitary survivors like myself have been advocating for this issue for more than a decade, dating back to the massive prison hunger strikes in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Our organizing and advocacy efforts helped expose the long history of solitary confinement in California, and resulted in the landmark Ashker legal settlement that imposed new restrictions.