Six by Ten
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End Long-Term Solitary Confinement. Release inmates to general prison population who have been warehoused indefinitely in SHU for the last 10 to 40 years (and counting).
Provide SHU Inmates Immediate Meaningful Access to: i) adequate natural sunlight; ii) quality health care and treatment, including the mandate of transferring all PBSP-SHU inmates with chronic health care problems to the New Folsom Medical SHU facility.
Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food. Cease the practice of denying adequate food, and provide wholesome nutritional meals including special diet meals, and allow inmates to purchase additional vitamin supplements.PBSP staff must cease their use of food as a tool to punish SHU inmates.
Provide a sergeant/lieutenant to independently observe the serving of each meal, and ensure each tray has the complete issue of food on it.
Feed the inmates whose job it is to serve SHU meals with meals that are separate from the pans of food sent from kitchen for SHU meals.
Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU-Status Inmates. Examples include:Expand visiting regarding amount of time and adding one day per week.
Allow one photo per year.
Allow a weekly phone call.
Allow two (2) annual packages per year. A 30-lb. package based on item weight and not packaging and box weight.
Expand canteen and package items allowed. Allow us to have the items in their original packaging [the cost for cosmetics, stationery, envelopes, should not count towards the max draw limit].
More TV channels.
Allow TV/radio combinations, or TV and small battery-operated radio.
Allow hobby craft items – art paper, colored pens, small pieces of colored pencils, watercolors, chalk, etc.
Allow sweat suits and watch caps.
Allow wall calendars.
Install pull-up/dip bars on SHU yards.
Allow correspondence courses that require proctored exams.
Signed by
Todd Ashker
Arturo Castellanos
Sitawa N. Jamaa (s/n R. N. Dewberry)
George Franco
Antonio Guillen
Lewis Powell
Paul Redd
Alfred Sandoval
Danny Troxell
James Williamson
Ronnie Yandell
. . . and all other similarly situated prisoners
* * *
66. Eli Hager and Gerald Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary,” Marshall Project,
December 23, 2014, www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/23/shifting
-away-from-solitary; Amy Fettig and Margo Schlanger, “Milestones in Solitary Reform,” Solitary Watch, http://solitarywatch.com/resources/timelines/milestones.
67. “Walnut Street Prison,” Law Library–American Law and Legal Information, http://law.jrank.org/pages/11192/Walnut-Street-Prison.html.
68. Judith Anne Ryder, “Auburn State Prison,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://
www.britannica.com/topic/Auburn-State-Prison.
69. Ryder, “Auburn State Prison.”
70. Ryder, “Auburn State Prison.”
71. “History of Eastern State,” Eastern State Penitentiary, www.easternstate.org
/research/history-eastern-state.
72. Brooke Shelby Biggs, “Solitary Confinement: A Brief History,” Mother Jones, March 3, 2009, www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/solitary-confinement-brief
-natural-history/.
73. “History of Angola,” Angola Museum, www.angolamuseum.org/history/history.
74. “Institute Index: A Brief History of the Hell That Is Louisiana’s Angola Prison,” The Institute for Southern Studies, March 13, 2014, www.southernstudies.org/2014/03
/institute-index-a-brief-history-of-the-hell-that-i.html.
75. US Supreme Court, “Medley, Petitioner, 134 US 160 (1890),” p. 134, Justia, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/134/160/case.html.
76. “History of the Prison,” Angola Museum, www.angolamuseum.org/history
/archived-articles/history-of-the-prison.
77. “History of Eastern State.”
78. Laura Sullivan, “Timeline: Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons,” NPR, July 26, 2006.
79. “Historical Information: Alcatraz Origins,” Federal Bureau of Prisons,
www.bop.gov/about/history/alcatraz.jsp.
80. “Marion Prison,” Historical Southern Illinois, Southern Illinois University,
www.cs.siu.edu/csday/2009_1/marion_prison.htm.
81. “Marion Prison.”
82. “History of Eastern State.”
83. “Marion Prison.”
84. James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, “Hunger Strike in the Supermax: Pelican Bay Prisoners Protest Conditions of Solitary Confinement,” Solitary Watch, June 30, 2011, http://solitarywatch.com/2011/06/30/hunger-strike-in-the-supermax
-pelican-bay-prisoners-protest-conditions-in-solitary-confinement/.
85. Benish Anver, Gal Bruck, and Richard Wilson, “Written Statement of the American University International Human Rights Law Clinic: ‘Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness: An Overview of Conditions at ADX,’” Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Thematic Hearing on Human Rights and Solitary Confinement in the Americas, American University, March 8, 2013, www.aclu.org/files/assets/au_wcl
_testimony_iachr_for_thematic_hearing_3-12-13pdf.
86. Jean Casella and James Ridgeway, “Case Closed on Supermax Abuses at Pelican Bay,” Solitary Watch, February 15, 2011.
87. “Solitary Confinement at Guantanamo Bay,” Center for Constitutional Rights, May 21 2008, http://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/tools-resources/fact-sheets
-and-faqs/solitary-confinement-guantanamo-bay#2.
88. John J. Gibbons and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach, Confronting Confinement: A Report of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, Vera Institute of Justice, June 2006, www.vera.org/publications/confronting-confinement.
89. Justin Peters, “How a 1983 Murder Created America’s Terrible Supermax-Prison Culture,” Slate, October 23, 2013, www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/10/23/marion_
prison_lockdown_thomas_silverstein_how_a_1983_murder_created_america.html.
90. US District Court, Southern District of New York, “Private Agreement Settlement,” www.documentcloud.org/documents/682930-shu-exclusion-settlement, document accessed via ProPublica; Christie Thompson, “New York Promised Help for Mentally Ill Inmates – but Still Sticks Many in Solitary,” ProPublica, August 15, 2013, www.propublica.org/article/new-york-promised-help-for-mentally-ill-inmates-but-still-sticks-many-in-so.
91. Hager and Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary.”
92. Hager and Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary.”
93. Hager and Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary.”
94. “Solitary Confinement Should Be Banned in Most Cases, UN Expert Says,” UN News Centre, October 18, 2011, www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID
=40097#.V2LuZbQrz0s.
95. “ACLU Briefing Paper: The Dangerous Overuse of Solitary Confinement in the United States,” ACLU, August 2014.
96. “Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003,” Government Publishing Office,
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-108publ79/pdf/PLAW-108publ79.pdf; “Prison Rape Elimination Act,” National PRA Resource Center, www.prearesourcecenter
.org/about/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea. (The latter source was published in 2012, after enforcement commenced.)
97. Hager and Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary.”
98. Hager and Rich, “Shifting Away from Solitary.”
99. James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, �
�First Congressional Hearing on Solitary Confinement to Be Held June 19,” Solitary Watch, June 8, 2012, http://solitarywatch.com
/2012/06/08/first-congressional-hearing-on-solitary-confinement-to-be-held-june-19/.
100. “Solitary Confinement of Juvenile Offenders,” American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,” www.aacap.org/aacap/Policy_Statements/2012/Solitary
_Confinement_of_Juvenile_Offenders.aspx.
101. “Position Statement on Segregation of Prisoners with Mental Illness,” American Psychiatric Association,” December 2012.
102. United States Virgin Islands Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility, “2013 Federal Court Settlement Agreement in re: United States of America v. The Territory of the Virgin Islands,” Seventh Compliance Monitoring Report, submitted May 31, 2015, www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2015/06/03/goldengrove_mtrrpt7
_6-2-15.pdf.
103. “Bureau of Prisons: Improvements Needed in Bureau of Prisons’ Monitoring and Evaluation of Impact of Segregated Housing,” US Government Accountability Office, May 1, 2013, www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-429.
104. “Justice Department Finds Pennsylvania State Prison’s Use of Solitary Confinement Violates Rights of Prisoners under the Constitution and Americans with Disabilities Act,” Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, May 31, 2013,
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-pennsylvania-state-prison-s
-use-solitary-confinement-violates-rights.
105. Nevada Legislature, “Chapter 62B - General Administration; Jurisdiction,” section 215, www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-062B.html#NRS062BSec215.
106. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “11065.1: Review of the Use of Segregation for ICE Detainees,” September 4, 2014, www.ice.gov/doclib/detention-reform
/pdf/segregation_directive.pdf.
107. “Manhattan U.S. Attorney Finds Pattern and Practice of Excessive Force and Violence at NYC Jails on Rikers Island That Violates the Constitutional Rights of Adolescent Male Inmates,” Department of Justice, US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, August 4, 2014, www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us
-attorney-finds-pattern-and-practice-excessive-force-and-violence-nyc-jails.
108. Rick Raemisch and Kellie Wasko, “Open the Door – Segregation Reforms in Colorado,” Colorado Department of Corrections, 2015, www.colorado.gov/pacific
/cdoc/news/open-door-segregation-reforms-colorado.
109. Benjamin Weiser, “New York State Agrees to Big Changes in How Prisons Discipline Inmates,” New York Times, February 19, 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20
/nyregion/new-york-state-agrees-to-big-changes-in-how-prisons-discipline-inmates
.html?ref=solitaryconfinement.
110. “Opening Statement of Senator Dick Durbin: ‘Reassessing Solitary Confinement II: The Human Rights, Fiscal, and Public Safety Consequences,’” Committee on the Judiciary, February 25, 2014, www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media
/doc/02-25-14DurbinStatement.pdf.
111. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Attorney General Holder Criticizes Excessive Use of Solitary Confinement for Juveniles with Mental Illness,” Department of Justice press release, May 14, 2014, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney
-general-holder-criticizes-excessive-use-solitary-confinement-juveniles-mental.
112. Claire Sestanovich, “NYC Declares an End to Solitary for Inmates under 21,” Marshall Project, January 14, 2015, www.themarshallproject.org/2015/01/14/nyc
-declares-an-end-to-solitary-for-inmates-under-21#.2ZG6Wrt5R.
113. Julie Bosman, “Lawsuit Leads to New Limits on Solitary Confinement at Juvenile Prisons in Illinois,” New York Times, May 4, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/us
/politics/lawsuit-leads-to-new-limits-on-solitary-confinement-at-juvenile-prisons-in
-illinois.html.
114. Priyanka Boghani, “California Agrees to Overhaul Solitary Confinement in Prisons,” Frontline, September 1, 2015, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/california
-agrees-to-overhaul-solitary-confinement-in-prisons.
115. Liman Program, Yale Law School, and the Association of State Correctional Administrators, August 2015, Time-in-Cell: The ASCA-Liman 2014 National Survey of Administrative Segregation in Prison, www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf
/asca-liman_administrative_segregation_report_sep_2_2015.pdf.
116. “Remarks by the President at the NAACP Conference,” The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, July 14, 2015, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the
-press-office/2015/07/14/remarks-president-naacp-conference.
117. Sal Rodriguez, “Legal Settlement Is Having a ‘Transformative Effect’ on Solitary Confinement in California Prisons,” Solitary Watch, February 8, 2016, http://
solitarywatch.com/2016/02/08/legal-settlement-is-having-a-transformative-effect
-on-solitary-confinement-in-california-prisons/.
118. Allen J. Beck, “Use of Restrictive Housing in US Prisons and Jails, 2011–2012,” US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 2015.
119. “Fact Sheet: Department of Justice Review of Solitary Confinement,” The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, January 25, 2016. These policies apply only to federal prisons and not state prisons or local jails, where the vast majority of juveniles are held. In January 2016, only 71 juveniles were being held in federal custody versus about 55,000 in state adult and juvenile facilities.
120. Michael Schwirtz and Michael Winerip, “New York State Agrees to Overhaul Solitary Confinement in Prisons,” New York Times, December 16, 2015, www
.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/nyregion/new-york-state-agrees-to-overhaul-solitary
-confinement-in-prisons.html.
121. “Senate Passes Ban on Long-Term Solitary Confinement of Inmates with Serious Mental Illness,” ACLU Colorado, https://aclu-co.org/statement-aclu-colorado
-unanimous-senate-approval-sb14-64-restricting-use-long-term-solitary-confinement
-inmates-serious-mental-illness.
122. Brenda Gazzar, “LA County Ends Solitary Confinement for Juveniles,” Los Angeles Daily News, May 3, 2016, www.dailynews.com/2016/05/03/la-county-ends-solitary
-confinement-for-juveniles.
123. Mindy Bogue, “Solitary Confinement Ended as We Know It in Delaware,” ACLU, February 20, 2017, https://aclu-de.org/news/solitary-confinement-ended-as-we
-know-it-in-delaware/2017/02/20/.
124. “Senate Bill 82,” Oregon Legislature Bill Tracker, https://gov.oregonlive.com
/bill/2017/SB82.
125. Christine Stuart, “Law Limiting Connecticut’s Use of Solitary Confinement Takes Effect in January,” New Haven Register, July 13, 2017, www.nhregister.com/connecticut
/article/Law-limiting-Connecticut-s-use-of-solitary-11729614.php.
126. Elaine Scarry, The Body and Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
127. Quoted in Yale Visual Law Project, The Worst of the Worst: Portrait of a Supermax Prison, directed by Valarie Kaur, 2012, https://vimeo.com/54826024.
128. Brandon Keim, “The Horrible Psychology of Solitary Confinement,” Wired, July 10, 2013.
129. Philip Zimbardo, “Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: A Lesson in the Power of Situation,” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 30, 2007.
130. Amy Lerman, The Modern Prison Paradox: Politics, Punishment, and Social Community (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 120.
131. “Whatever pain achieves, it achieves in part through its unsharability, and it ensures this unsharability through its resistance to language. . . . Physical pain doe
s not simply resist language but actively destroys it.” Scarry, Body and Pain, 4.
132. Jennifer Gonnerman, “Before the Law,” New Yorker, October 4, 2014, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law; Jennifer Gonnerman, “Kalief Browder, 1993–2015,” New Yorker, June 7, 2015, www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015.
133. See, for example, The Liman Program, Yale Law School, and the Association of State Correctional Administrators, Time-In-Cell: The ASCA-Liman 2014 National Survey of Administrative Segregation in Prison, August 2015; Angela Browne, Alissa Cambier, and Suzanne Agha, “Prisons within Prisons: The Use of Segregation in the United States,” Federal Sentencing Reporter 24, no. 46 (2011): 46–49.
134. Charles Dickens, The Works of Charles Dickens: American Notes for General Circulation and Pictures from Italy (London: Chapman & Hall, 1910), 118.
135. In Re Medley, 134 U.S. 160, 168 (1890).
136. Barack Obama, “Why We Must Rethink Solitary Confinement,” Washington Post, January 25, 2016.