Both those arguments have been disputed by advocates.īut Governor Newsom echoed the CDCR’s concerns in a message accompanying his veto this week. In a statement ( PDF), Newsom said the bill would “categorically prohibit the placement of large portions of the incarcerated population in segregated housing – even if such a placement is to protect the safety of all incarcerated individuals in the institution”.

The department previously said the bill would have resulted in expensive renovations to prison yards to accommodate people released from solitary, and remove a key tool for isolating dangerous individuals inside prison. Immigrant Defense Advocates (IDA) September 30, 2022 We are disappointed in this news but not suprised. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) did not respond to questions from Al Jazeera regarding the use of solitary in the state prison system, and stated it does not comment on pending legislation. Various provisions of the California bill were inspired by recent solitary cases that drew condemnation in the state, such as the death of Choung Woong Ahn, a 74-year-old Korean immigrant who died by suicide in a solitary unit at an immigrant detention centre in 2020. The practice has been linked to a heightened risk of suicide, depression, and irritability, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a number of physical issues, such as hypertension and heart attacks.Īccording to the Vera Institute ( PDF), a progressive criminal justice organisation, a study of the use of solitary in New York’s prisons found that those held in isolation units died by suicide at a rate five times higher than people held in regular prison facilities.Īfter 15 consecutive days, the practice violates the United Nations’s Mandela Rules on the minimum treatment of prisoners, and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture has called for the “absolute prohibition” of solitary beyond that time period. Solitary confinement is commonly defined as being held in a cell for more than 22 hours a day without meaningful social interaction. McCarthy, now 41, was released from prison in July 2020 after spending nearly a decade in solitary confinement, kept in a cell about the size of a small parking space for more than 22 hours a day.Ī bill known as the California Mandela Act, passed by the state legislature last month, would have limited the practice to no more than 15 consecutive days and banned its use for vulnerable people, such as pregnant women and those with physical and mental disabilities, among others.īut Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the proposal late on Thursday, in a move that was decried by advocates who have said that thousands of people are languishing in California’s prisons and jails in conditions that a United Nations expert said can amount to torture. “It was so vivid that it was an almost psychedelic experience.” “I was being held in a cell for more than 23 hours a day and hadn’t seen anything but the colour gray,” McCarthy told Al Jazeera over the phone in a recent interview. “And then as they were transferring me to another unit of the prison, they walked me outside and I saw this tree, and it was so green. Los Angeles, California, US – Kevin McCarthy says one memory from his time in solitary confinement at California’s notorious Pelican Bay State Prison remains especially vivid, even years later. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available at 1-80. Warning: The story below contains references to suicide.

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