'The feeling of being buried alive is real'
AFSC works to end solitary confinement in U.S. prisons
By Matthew Lowen
Participant at Tucson’s All Souls’
Procession.The first time I heard her tell me matter-of-factly that her son would probably commit suicide if things didn’t change, there was little I could say. Her son was in long-term solitary confinement, was suffering from physical and mental health problems due to the conditions he was experiencing, and was being harassed by the guards for filing too many grievances.
Those of us advocating on behalf of prisoners held in supermax (super-maximum security) prison facilities hear tales like this far too frequently.
In May 2007, AFSC’s Arizona Area Office released Buried Alive: Solitary Confinement in Arizona’s Prisons and Jails. The report helped launch the StopMax Arizona Campaign, and is part of the broader AFSC-wide StopMax Campaign to end the use of long-term solitary confinement and other forms of torture in the U.S.
This important prisoner rights work is already taking place across the country in many AFSC offices, and through partner organizations and individuals collaborating to end solitary confinement.
Solitary confinement means much more than simply being alone in one’s cell. In Arizona, prisoners spend a minimum of 23 hours per day in a space approximately 8’ x 10’.
There are no group activities (i.e. eating together, treatment programs, education, jobs, recreation, or religious services). At best, prisoners are permitted to leave their cells three times a week for about an hour of exercise in a cage-like area followed by a shower. Often, for a myriad of reasons, even this activity does not take place. The average prisoner in solitary confinement spends around five years in these extreme conditions.
Not surprisingly, mental illness is significantly higher for persons in solitary confinement. Not only are mentally ill individuals placed in solitary confinement at a higher rate, but such extreme isolation can result in uncontrollable anger, hallucinations, and increased rates of suicide.
Furthermore, supermax prisons are believed to contribute to higher rates of recidivism and more institutional violence. Yet they are employed in almost every state prison system, as well as the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Photo: Erin Butler What is hauntingly clear from the letters that arrive at AFSC offices throughout the country is that each day people are dying as a result of these inhumane conditions. One Arizona prisoner writes, “[solitary confinement] took me down a dark dark hole…the feeling of being buried alive is real.”
In the case of the mother who told me her son would kill himself, after months of advocating for change on his behalf, he has been moved out of solitary confinement. However, at least twice in the past year he has tried to take his own life. He has promised me that he will do so again if the prison tries to send him back to solitary confinement.
Matthew Lowen is a program coordinator in AFSC’s Arizona Area Program.
Save the date
From May 30 to June 1, AFSC’s StopMax Campaign will host a national conference at Temple University in Philadelphia. The conference will bring together family members of prisoners in solitary confinement, individuals who were formerly incarcerated in solitary confinement, and partner organizations, to work toward abolishing the use of solitary confinement.
Learn more online at www.stopmax.org
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