Solitary Confinement: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Michel Foucault is RIGHT in his classic book “Discipline And Punish” - the point of contemporary incarceration is for society to NOT care. Public witnessing of state retribution, even under the law, is inherently destabilizing.

That 20 seconds of audio from a solitary confinement cell block is the most haunting thing I've ever heard. That would drive anyone to madness.

I worked at adult jails, and juvenile detention centers. We had far more juvies in solitary than adults. It must be hard on adults - but on 10 - 14 year olds? The system is totally insane. Of course to get put in solitary would take something as "major" as... anything that pisses off a guard. I only made it 4 years working there. To last any longer you have to turn off any semblance of humanity or compassion. I got along better with the inmates than I did with most of my coworkers.

Standing up for prisoners' rights is not a popular position in the best of times, I can't tell you how much I appreciate episodes like these. Human rights means rights for ALL humans. Much love to you and the team that put this episode together.

The prosecutor, Charles Sebesta, infamously known for being racist, did the following:
- He threatened Graves alibi witness with jail time so they wouldn't take the stand,
- He gave the murderer a choice between either accusing Graves of being at the murder scene or prosecuting his wife (law enforcement officers had also pressured the murderer into blaming someone else)
- In the 5 years following Graves release he was never accused of any wrongdoings
- After being disbarred for false testimony and withholding excupaltory evidences, he spread false information on ads (saying Graves was guilty) published in the county Graves lived in... Further destroying Graves life
He's now retired, rich, never paid a fine, never went to jail, never judged for his crime and now considered a respectable member of society. He has never apologized.
What would happen to our justice system if people like him were actually convicted and sent to jail with the general population?
Wouldn't that stop people pursuing justice careers only for personal gains?

Having been held in solitary when I refused to work for my last 3 days because the judged had ordered that I wouldn’t have to work without my medication. That clip of the constant banging wasn’t particularly bad. Where I was held, one guy spent almost every waking hour either screaming wildly or yelling at the officers. Really made me feel that extra day they decided to wait before releasing me 😂
And that was in a jail, not a prison. I was there for violating probation I got put on for being arrested with less than a gram of marijuana & a grinder. So it’s not like these were all violent criminals or sexual predators that I was in there with.

Holy fuck, 18 years in solitary for a wrongful conviction... I can't fathom the immense permanent trauma from that. Have always known we treat people horrendously, but this is straight up crimes against humanity.

I was 9 years old the 1st time that I was put in solitary. The bad part is that they strapped me down to a bed/metal table. Luckily, I was only strapped down 16 hours a day, though, bc that was their legal limit. This was for walking into somebody's room that was walking with me while we talked. I didn't even notice that I did it, and it was my 1st offense in that facility. America, god shed his grace on thee.

As a former female inmate, I was once put in solitary confinement because I interpreted the CO's tv time to get in my cell to use my toilet. I had already been in for 15 days for the quarantine period, had just gotten out of that the same day and he locked me in again for 48 more hours. He has been fired since this for having relations with female inmates now

I was forgotten in solitary for 3 weeks.
I’m Autistic and had a mental health emergency and wound up there instead of a hospital.
I don’t have the same social drives and social needs that non Autistic people have because of how my brain is designed.
I require almost no social interaction, so that didn’t bother me so much.
What did bother me was after a while it became difficult to differentiate my inner world from the external one.
The screams always kept me anchored.
If the world I was in was permeated with the sounds of men sobbing or screaming, that was the real world and not my mind.
They eventually let me out, but you never really get out of solitary. It stays with you.
20 some years later and I still have dreams about being in a cell, and when I wake up I can’t tell what is nightmare and what is real.
Actual criminals don’t deserve that.
No human deserves that.
If you think solitary confinement is okay because they are doing it to criminals, it is being done to disabled people and people in need of medical intervention too.
I’ll make you a deal.
Go into your walk in closet with a bucket and nothing but an apron to clothe yourself.
Then stay there, using the bucket as a toilet, freezing without blankets, and nothing to occupy your mind. Don’t allow anyone to speak to you, and leave the lights on, all the time.
Have someone set up speakers outside and have them play Linda Blair’s demonic speeches from the Exorcist on repeat.
Arrange for 3 meals a day, all cold, and no knife, fork or spoon to eat with. Don’t shower or brush your teeth when you’re in there.
If you make it a week in there, I’ll support the use of solitary confinement.
Otherwise shaddap, you’re talking about something you know nothing about, and that ignorance hurts people.

After my second DUI, upon hearing me tell my husband I didn't care if I would have died due to my actions the phone went dead, they took my glasses and put me in the turtle suit, kept in a 6×9 observation cell up front in booking. You are placed naked in the turtle suit, and I was on my period. I was made to bleed without underwear or a pad for 3 days. In my own blood, it was everywhere. 3 damn days. County jail, misdemeanor because I said I didn't care if my actions could have resulted in my death. I was put in the turtle suit, bare naked in booking with windows and laid in my own blood for 72 hours because I was 'suicidal'. Society got real lucky somehow I didn't become homacidal.

I was accused of a crime once, and spent 3 days in solitary. Just those three days was hell. The first day is bareable, and then after that you feel real pain, and do feel like you are going crazy. I can not fathom being in there for weeks or months or longer.

My brother is in prison for marijuana. He absolutely wound up in solitary for loudly complaining about the food and giving lip when a guard told him to stop. Also they bleed us dry just so we can send him emails and phone calls. It's disgusting. Prisons are a money making venture and designed to make sure people keep winding up back in there so they can keep making money off of them.

Deep gratitude to the producers for not only understanding the issue, but also sharing th nuaces of the work. Happy to have informed this segment and proud of the work our allies are doing to end the turture of solitary. I spent 3 years in there, and Joseph is my brother. Thank you Joe, for sharing your perspective and experience.

I just spent 4 weeks in the hospital. Thats the tamest form of solitary I can even think of, and I still have lasting impacts from it. I used to be massively introverted, self contained. Now I seek out people, have anxiety attacks, talk to everyone, and hate being left alone.

Worth pointing out: when there’s a violent incident, it’s the victim who is put in solitary confinement, not the aggressor, on the reasoning that it’s the victim who needs ‘protection.’

John, this video has made me respect you even more. Please dig up and expose more of this sort of garbage that goes on in society, so we can all vote for the representatives who will do something about it. Knowledge is power, and you're spreading the knowledge in your unique, special and entertaining format! Thank you!!🙏

Speaking from experience as a former CO, they're not lying about the sheer number of reasons people go to solitary (referred to as restrictive housing here in Colorado - where I worked at). I saw people taken to RH for something as ridiculous as taking an apple from the chow hall - where, let's face it, those meals simply cannot sustain any fully grown human being's calorie needs. The sounds from that 20 second clip alone are an indictment of our prison system, and I can remember working in RH units where it was like that all day and all night. Our entire concept of justice is completely off after everything I saw and experienced, and for me it was only part of what the incarcerated deal with every single day.

Solitary confinement killed my childhood best friend. She was awaiting trial for allegedly abetting in theft. Her family couldn't afford her bail, and because the only place she could be put was in a cell with her co-defendant, they put her in solitary confinement to keep them separated. She wrote a note begging for help, saying she felt she was losing her mind. She was ignored. She hung herself. Her name was Jessica DiCesare.

Having worked in solitary confinement years ago, and being jailed in solitary confinement, all of this is spot on. I will add that much of the disruptive behavior by inmates is based on a need for attention and human interaction. The system creates its own problems.
"Prisons are universities of crime, maintained by the state."
-Peter Kropotkin

In the UK, a friend of mine worked with "at risk" teens. They were housed there to keep them from danger and off the streets. However, many of these kids had PTSD and other forms of trauma that could often lead to them having explosive outbursts. The solution? Lock them in solitary for hours and hours. They hadn't committed any crimes, they were just unstable. Rather than help them, they would add to their distress. As a result, kids would run away, putting them in just as much danger as they were in before, if not more so. She hated that job for very obvious reasons.

Thank you John for fighting the good fight and educating us about things the mainstream media does not want to talk about.
The story of the gentleman kept for 18 years in solitary was heartbreaking - I just find it hard to accept that we live in a world so cruel and full od suffering.
Thank you for using your platform to share awareness, you are doing a great service. Stay strong ❤

I recently watched a true crime video about a prisoner who has been in solitary for nearly 40 years. Over time he's forgotten how to read and even how to speak properly. He's put in so many requests to be put back in gen pop but is denied every time. He isn't even asking to be set free, just to be among other prisoners. His name is Robert Maudsley and I highly recommend hearing his story, it's so sad.

By now, when *anything* is being justified by "but we need to have some way to punish evil sexual predators & murderers", I automatically assume that it'll happen for the sort of infraction which strict parents _might_ punish by docking their teens weekly allowance.

I am a prison minister and personally can attest to the fact that prisoners are put into solitary for ridiculously minor infractions. I know an inmate who was put into solitary for three days and had most of his privileges revoked for two weeks because he waved at a fellow inmates visitor as he walked behind them on his way back out from his own video visit. A wave. That's all it took. No words, no gang symbols, just an ordinary expression of greeting. The prison systems in the US are so broken it's disgusting. They define cruel and unusual.

I got depression as a teenager just from being isolated during the summer holidays on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I still saw my family but not my friends and that was enough.
I cannot imagine how bad it would've been to be locked in a box instead. I am so sorry to everyone that experienced this.

I did an essay on solitary confinement while studying for my law degree, It is far worse than he makes it sound. People put in solitary for extended periods come out acting like caged animals, biting, scratching, screaming incoherently, and lashing out at anyone who tries to get close to them. They lost the ability to speak properly and have problems with memory, reasoning, or perceiving the passage of time.

Whomever thinks the criminal justice system is about anything but MONEY, clearly hasn't been through it. It's not about rehabilitation, or punishment. It's about making money off people and treating them like a commodity.

If the guards themselves havent done it themselves, they sure as hell shouldnt be making the inmates do it without understanding it themselves.

I hope we someday really try to figure out the factors that lead to criminality and focus on reversing those factors rather than focusing on torturing human beings in the hope of frightening other people away from crime.

Here's what folks don't understand about the American penitentiary system: it's about retribution, not penance. It's about punishing people, not rehabilitating them. Most importantly, it's about making money and NOT punishing, rehabilitating, or even inspiring penance in folks. And if you think that's messed up, then congratulations! You are still a decent human being with empathy, unlike the people who ran the prison industry.

When I got a letter from a girlfriend who was in prison for a DUI and read that she was placed in solitary confinement for confiding in her counselor that she was depressed after a few months of her sentence, I was in disbelief and absolutely appalled. Thank you for bringing a spotlight onto this issue.

I was in PC (protective custody) in southern Ontario, Canada while I was waiting to go to a secure treatment facility. I was there for 6 months. I cannot imagine spending years upon years in solitary. My experience was mixed; PC cells were the solitary cells. Know how many people were in these PC cells? Up to 3. To repeat: a room made for ONE person in solitary confinement was housing THREE. There physically wasn't room to fit more. One guy on the bed, one guy on the floor against the back wall (with his head near the toilet), and one guy on the floor at the foot of the bed next to the door. We were lucky to get an hour of yard a day, some guards would lie to us about the conditions outside so as not to give us yard, we had no window, no tv, rarely got books, no common room. Oh, and we only got to use the showers every other day and not weekends (mon, wed, fri). I'm lucky; I'm used to being on my own and I can make my own entertainment; I read, I write, I daydream, I do math puzzles, sudoku, I know many solitare card games. Some guys had limited reading skills, so books weren't much help to them. And some guys definitely can't do it nor does it calm them down; there were periods of screaming, banging, flooding, even shit-flinging because those were guys were from GenPop and being punished with solitary... in our PC wing made of solitary cells.

I was in solitary confinement for 120 days . The first month in withdrawal from heavy drugs. Since then I fell in love with the outdoors and I hated nature before . Now I could go feral, so to speak 😂

As a person that has experienced this type of odd punishment and yeah probably torture..I thank you for exposing the profit grubbing bastards ... i was sent to a maximum security prison for 30 days from my medium security proson to do the amount of "hole time" accrued . Its very inhumane and demeaning

Solidarity confinement is also frequently used in psychiatric hospitals, including with kids.

I could not be that eloquent after being in solitary confinement for 18 years. The fact that he’s even able to be there is a miracle in and of itself.

I’d like to add that I was wrongfully incarcerated for 19 days and 1/4 of that was in solitary- not out of punishment, but because they didn’t have room for me.

I have horrible claustrophobia. Being in small, tight spaces makes me begin to hyperventilate and freak out. I could not imagine spending 15 minutes in solitary confinement, let alone several years. It’s disgusting that people think that locking someone away and leaving them alone will fix them

The harms caused by someone who gets high off of pot, or even meth, are nothing compared to the harms caused by someone who gets high off of having power over others. (The only difference is that the latter group is seen as "useful", in the way that orcs were useful to Sauron, Death Eaters were to Voldemort, etc). The rush of power someone can feel using punishment can make it very addictive. For the ones who punish, it provides the illusion of results and changed behaviour, while really the one who is punished only changes how they behave around the punisher. This becomes deeply reinforcing. Prison guards are becoming addicted to the high of punishment use and then hurting people in far worse ways than most inmates who are in there ever have.

I have four excon friends from New York City and they have horror stories of Bedford (New York State's only maximum female prison) and about solitary. One said she was in a few weeks and she felt like she aged decades and she was getting grey hair and going through menopause. Another has PTSD from how they make the inmates strip naked every morning to be measured for uniforms sizes. Worse of all, all four have to be in Non Violent Separate Housing whenever they have to serve another sentence where they spend 20 hours a day in the cell, one hour to shower and the other three is time in the cell block open room never outside. Also, days in solitary DON'T count to their sentence so it means more time overall in prison.
Also, here in Canada our Supreme Court has made it illegal to keep inmates in solitary confident for more than 24 hours saying it's unconstitutional.

“Solitary confinement makes our criminal justice system.. criminal.” That nailed it right on the criminally inept justice system’s fat head.

I remember a news story from a prison in sweden. Due to an error, a segrigated wing of higly violent criminals had their cell doors left unlocked over night. They were segregated for therapy and rehabilitation, all kept in the same wing but single cells with solid doors so no contact during nights usually. Once these dangerous men found the doors unlocked to the cells, but still confined to the wing all hell broke loose. They baked a cake! And watched late night TV... And then they went to bed... man... what a riot...

When I was in seventh grade I was hospitalized for mental health issues, there was a solitary room that they'd send kids to for the smallest things, it was a tiny little room with a drain in the floor and it reeked of piss

Everytime I watch this show, I learn a new (or gain further knowledge on an old) horror that takes place in the US.
I'm scared to travel there. I'm more scared that there is much more to my country - which has its own legacy of cruelties - that I don't know how bad it is.
John, would love to see you tackle some Canuck subjects, I promise many of us are listening with rapt concern.

There's a real life story of a juvenile delinquent who had no signs or history of schizophrenia, yet solitary confinement brought them to that head space, and they even had to heal from the symptoms after that for years.

Who else is _shocked_ that it was North Dakota of all places to do away with solitary and actually start being more rehabilitative???

This reminds me of the time I was driving and came upon a police checkpoint. The lead cop wanted me to open all my doors and step out of the vehicle. I told him they weren't searching my vehicle. One cop then told me "this isn't a search, it's an inspection."
*SIGH*

I was raped and put in solitary confinement for my last 52 days in prison for "protection". Getting out of prison was weird because there was a lot of noise. I couldn't sleep for the longest time because there was so much noise. The banging is infuriating for the first few days but you get used to it. If you want to get worse look into the chair. They tie you to a chair and leave you there for days. One guy sat in the chair for 3 days. I couldn't sleep through his constant cries for help. That's all I heard all day and all night. Help. Help. Help. Help. Help. It was hell.

Thank you to John and his team for this coverage. It's awful, but it's good that you are bringing attention to the cruelty.

I’m an autistic person who generally likes to be alone, and I know that being isolated for even 2 weeks can be damaging to a person. It’s even more damaging if the person does not have anything to do to occupy the time. No one can operate as the island, so it is important to not expect that from anyone.

I was a public defender and my 18 year old client got sent to solitary for “hoarding maxi pads” (she had more than 1)

No matter how bad or good you think life is, wake up each day and be thankful. Someone somewhere is fighting to survive.

Thank you John for fighting the good fight throughout the years ❤

I’m so proud that this show actually reached out and interviewed survivors about their experiences and got the facts before doing this segment 🎉 thank you for recognizing us survivors

I worked as a corrections nurse at a supermax facility and the first time I toured the SHU (security housing unit) I cried. Im not a crier, but just the thought of a person living like that really got to me.

I did a 4 year bid in prison about 20 years ago. While I was in there I was accused of doing something I had no connection with what so ever. I was found guilty and placed in solitary confinement for 9 months. It's supposed to be for 23 hours a day, and the 1 hour you are suppose to get out for, is the same time you need to take a shower, clean your cell, and pace back and forth for exercise for any remaining time you have left.
No remember me saying suppose to be 23 hours? Well if anything else is going on, like a shakedown in another cell block, a fight breaking out in another area, or anything of the sort that takes the c.o.'s out of your area, you could very well be skipped for that day.
Before I went in to prison, I was a very outgoing person, I loved hanging out with friends and family, going to malls, movies, you know, normal s#!÷ now if I'm in a grocery store and more than 2 or 3 people are on an aisle with me, I have to get as far away as I can. I get very Claustrophobic. I'm depressed all the time, and I have very bad social anxiety... That place really messed my head all the way up.

So sorry for everyone remotely affected by this and the trauma it's caused. Cannot fathom the reality and scope of consequences of this practice. Hope serious reform comes to your whole legal and penitentiary system in my lifetime, though I doubt it.

What’s crazy is in prisons in other countries have more than one prisoner in their “solitary confinement cells “ an amusing oxymoron if you ask me 😊😮

Anybody interested in learning about solitary confinement, and the awfulness of the US prison system in general, should read the book "Solitary" by Alfred Woodfox. He was placed in solitary for over 40 years, the longest in US history, and was such a powerful advocate for prison reform.

So my parents would literally do what that woman said: lock me in my room for sometimes 4 days. I remember learning to pick the lock and sneaking down to get food when they forgot about me. To no surprise, I experienced incredible outbursts of rage and violence that I'm still learning to deal with today. This is growing up in the US in the 90s. And if I tried to push against it, they'd threaten to throw me in a mental hospital, where I feared being one of these people alone in a cell.
This whole situation is fucked up and I know first hand how the abuse makes you worse, and recovery is an uphill battle. These people deserve our best, not our worst.

I spent 30 days in solitary because my uncle is the sheriff of the town, so gen pop was not safe for me. I got the same rules as anyone else in solitary. 23 hours in a small box with a toilet and a mat. It was awful and I don't think my mental state ever fully recovered.

Amazing journalism, thank you for bringing light to this very dark, messed up practice.

whoever wrote the line about guessing Catholics 50 times needs a pay raise because that had me laughing for 2 min straight

One of my best friends is going to spend years in prison. Seeing all of this is so unbelievably scary. Especially while living on a different continent.😢

The problem with trying to get a Behavioral Health Intervention Unit up and running is trying to get the staffing for it. Prisons are grossly understaffed and COVID made it 10 times worse.

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”
-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Vsauce did a great video on this. Solitary confinement is despicable. Our prison system is focused on shutting people out and hiding them away, rather than helping them become better.

This is horrifying, truly. How can we treat humans, even those who have committed crimes, in such a cruel way? This is in no way the same. But during confinement, we were confined for 3 months here in Spain and I was living with a new roommate and mostly stayed in my bedroom. And even that fucked me up. I can’t imagine being *locked in* somewhere. I was at least able to go outside periodically to go to the grocery store. But I guess the confinement was just a hint of solitary confinement and it was fucking terrible. I feel so bad for the people in that situation, criminals or not.

If only our government would watch these LWT videos and actually correct these issues. We'd have a much better world.

Also, interesting that people were sent to solitary for not wearing the right shoes because my secondary school used to do the same thing. It was called the 'Isolation Block' and you could be sent for having the wrong shoes. In there you were in a cubical, not allowed to talk to anyone and had specific times to go for lunch so you didn't interact with anyone else

I spent a week in solitaruy confinement for playing chess on my bed during a lockdown. I had a crazy, drug dealer, 19 yr old cellmate who screamed the same rap song and banged on the door endkessly. I made a chess set out of toilet paper and toothpaste using cigarette ashes for the black pirces! Upon release from solitary I took the set with me just to show that CO who was the better man! I hate being confined, 25 yrs. later

When I was in solitary I used to look at the pattern of the depressions in the cinderblocks. I'd see them as maps and then write stories in my head about what went on this island, or that continent, etc. You get to like some blocks and really hate other ones. I remember getting upset with one cinder block because the pattern was almost perfect for a story, but was missing an island.

Not only is this going on regularly, jails have put people in 14 day solitary confinement for the cause of COVID precautions; NOT because they have violated the jail rules. Disgusting.

What’s really wild is that all these things Mr. Oliver bring up, about the jail system, reminds me of all the stuff from the movie Stir Crazy. From the social commentary it provides when it comes to Justice as it relates to low income people. To simple reasons of non-violent disobedience as being a reason someone gets put in the hole. To all the ills caused by a “for profit” prison system. It was all there. But the movie didn’t really move the needle on the conversation, all those years back. The issues still remain the same.

Good story John. I would agree, just thinking about being put in a box gives me anxiety, I am so claustrophobic!! It would 100% make the issue worse. I just keep thinking of that video of a close village where (whether its true or not) when you do wrong you are surrounded by your peers and they say positive things about you. That would certainly make a person feel better, and then having those people to know you can talk with and help get guidance for the right things. You definitely have to have an outlet for the pain and someone to help you understand and make sense of things. Therapy groups are necessary I would think especially in situations where people have already gone overboard for some reason and found themselves in jail. Peace to you all. 🙏

To be fair to those guys in the TikTok interview at the start, I feel their answers are just an instinctual knowledge we have as a species that something like solitary confinement is just not good for us at a fundamental level. Their unsure answers to me felt like they couldn't believe that's a thing you can do to someone, on some existential level.

I was in solitary for 6 months. I wasn't incarcerated, I was just in a mental hospital long term and there were a lot of weird circumstances. But it fucked me up worse than anything else I've been through. At least in my case, everyone acknowledges it was horrible and that no one deserves that. I can't even imagine how much it would screw with someone to be told they basically deserved since they're a "criminal". Jesus.

Fantastic piece.
I'm sure they've excused us the usual race/ gender demographic of who gets put in solitary most.
Everything in America has a race/ gender bias and I'm sure solitary is no different.
R.I.P. Khalief Browder ✊🏿

Working on occasion with prisoners in Tennessee back in the 1990s, I discovered that in some prisons there were waiting lists for solitary even though they were actually putting 2 prisoners in each cell.

One County Jail I was in gave me access to the library and six books a week. Another pact five men into a two-man cell, lockdown 24/7 and when I came out I had to go to a psychiatric unit! I plead guilty to a charge I was innocent of just to get the hell out!

Ask someone whose been in solitary. 6X9. 45 sq ft. I did over 2 years in one. Even if you have a strong mind it does weird things to you. You start to hear your own thoughts audibly. You kind of start living another life inside of your head.

The prison system in America has been a shame and an international embarrassment for my entire life. I turn 40 tomorrow.

It never ceases to amaze how John Oliver can discuss such serious issues while simultaneously making me laugh.

Something I wish people understood is that prisoners are still human, everyone deserves the chance to get better even the people you think are scum of the earth. If someone wants to be better they deserve the option to

Not nearly as many laughs in this one. Super serious subject. Well-played, Mr. Oliver.

It's time our society takes this seriously. And while we're at it, recognizing neglect of children is abuse, neglect of elders, the social isolation we inflict on people who are different, who have disabilities, etc. Every day in our society. It's serious. Just as, if not more, damaging as outright violence and obvious abuse. We now know the effects on the human brain and body. What will we do about it?

Jessica Kent has a great video where she does a self experiment of recreating solitary confinement in her house for 24 hours. She had previously been in solitary confinement multiple times for 30 days and I think also 90 once. She has a great channel overall advocating prison reform and accessible drug treatment and has also talked about another inmate who was in solitary confinement in the same unit as her for her whole sentence, just because she was transgender. You might know Jessica Kent from her video speaking about giving birth as an inmate. That's also a great one if you want to hear about mistreatment in the justice system. Jessica also works with recovery programs and has a degree in prison psychology.

Oddly enough, I was in solitary confinement at the exact time this was posted!!! I was in Pima County Jail and was in solitary for about 3 months. I was in jail for a total of 6 months. I’m a female BTW…
It was life changing and I’ve got PTSD because of it. I just got released 4 days ago. I’ve been having a hard time leaving the house and have the shakes. I had never been in jail before and was put in solitary because I was too nervous for general population.
I’m an activist not used to being treated that way. It was torture!!
People were also put in solitary because of COVID! It’s still rampant in 2023. I got COVID about 1 month after being jailed. Everyone got it. The kitchen was closed 3 times in the last 6 months because the outside workers got sick. I feel jail is the main reason why COVID is still around.

“Solitary confinement is what makes our criminal justice system criminal” is so powerful.

The US penal system hasn’t been about rehabilitation for a long time…if ever. It’s about punishment. There have been exceptions in specific locations and programs, such as some of those shown in the video.

John Oliver can make a light joke and immediately afterwards in a more than serious and angry tone (but kind of staying calm anyway) upset my feelings at the end of this bit about the horrendous US incarceration system, that's a masterful skill of his.

I did 5 years in prison for robbery. I was given 3 months of solitary confinement for a tattoo.
To say the least, it has been 13 years since it happened. I am still dealing with the effects of it.

I just got out of an Ohio prison literally five days ago (5/14/23), and I can say categorically that most people don't go to the hole for violence.
At the prison I was in, Noble Correctional Institution, in Noble County, Ohio, the rules are arbitrary at best.
Here's a couple examples:
If you get caught with drugs, you get a ticket, and they put you on commissary restriction; if you get caught with prison wine, you go to the hole for five days.
A fight, however, only gets you three days in "restricted housing."
So, let's review...more hole time for alcohol than for fighting, and none at all for actual narcotics. If you can make sense of that, you're a better person than I am.

There are definately evil murderers and rapists and child molesters and others that deserve solitary confinement (including financial scammers that destroy people's lives) but some people are cofined in these death boxes that in no way or form deserve it.

The fact that people come out of solitary more violent…does anyone else wonder if that might be part of why we’re seeing the spike in behavioral issues since the pandemic? As an introvert, lockdown was heavenly, but I wonder if it had a detrimental effect on extroverts or other more social persons - or those with a tenuous social identity…I don’t know, just wondering.

When I was in Berlin, we went on a tour of old Stasi (KGB) prison. They showed us how one of the forms of torture there was locking prisoners in always lit cells, and every time they were about to fall asleep they would band on the doors to keep them awake.

People could develop claustrophobic systems in solitude confinement even become delusional to some extremes. I bet most of these inmates already has. . .

I looked up that Frontline documentary on solitary confinement, and oh my god.
Listening to that 20 seconds of audio was haunting, but I'm only 14 minutes in and it really is the least shocking part of it.
It is terrifying that we allow prisons to do this to people.

We need more different kinds of punishments, and they need to be punished more often