Guest commentary: California has come a long way on solitary confinement. I know this because I spent more than a decade in isolation, and have been organizing with other solitary survivors to limit the practice in our state. 📝: Kevin McCarthy
An inmate stands against a fence at the Adjustment Center yard at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin on Dec. 29, 2015. Photo by Stephen Lam, ReutersAs California reimagines its prison system, a reformer who spent years imprisoned in isolation questions why Gov. Gavin Newsom’s agenda has largely sidestepped the issue of solitary confinement.Kevin McCarthy is a solitary survivor and a member of the UC Berkeley Underground Scholars.
California has come a long way on solitary confinement. I know this because I spent more than a decade in isolation, and have been organizing with other solitary survivors to limit the practice in our state. While California has been a progressive leader on so many issues, it remains woefully behind on reforming solitary confinement, and has a dark history when it comes to this practice.
My own horrific experience with isolation began at the California Youth Authority when I was 16 years old, the result of a heroin habit I developed when I was 15. I was subject to isolation and lockdown despite the fact that I was still a developing youth who needed drug counseling, not sensory deprivation.
It is difficult to understate the damage solitary can do to an individual, never mind a developing youth.
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