California's Prison Isolation Units: Necessary or Inhumane? | KQED News

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In Sacramento, California lawmakers are delving into a growing national controversy over special security units that are used to isolate thousands of inmates from the regular prison population. Civil rights groups say long-term isolation amounts to torture while state corrections officials say the units are necessary and the conditions are humane.

Around the state there are four of these facilities, which are known as Security Housing Units. The most controversial is at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City.

At the heart of the debate: conditions in the units (many inmates are held in windowless cells and have been denied everything from calendars and sweatpants to phone calls); criteria that determine which prisoners are placed there and how they get out; and the lengthy terms some inmates spend in the facilities.

More than 500 California prisoners have been locked in the special units for 10 years or longer, according to state data. Of those people, 78 prisoners have been held inside for more than 20 years.

Over the years, authorities have allowed media into Pelican Bay's Security Housing Unit, but access has been limited and the inmates carefully selected by staff.

However, top corrections officials granted unusual access to a team of reporters and videographers from the Center for Investigative Reporting and KQED. We visited all areas of Pelican Bay's Security Housing Unit except for a section housing leaders of a 2011 hunger strike.

Using a small camera mounted to a wall, our team was able to record Beasley exercising with a rubber handball in the small concrete pen (prison staff only began allowing the balls last year). At all other times—day and night—he is held in his cell alone. While skylights allow filtered sunlight into the units, there are no windows.

Reporter: Michael Montgomery
Videographer: Singeli Agnew
Editor: Lisa Pickoff-White
Producer: Monica Lam
Produced by KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting
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Imagine being innocent and in this situation. You know they are out there.

GreekDino
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if you give a laptop and food, he just be living like me

regularm
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Wouldn’t this make them more anti social and just create deep rooted psychological and anger issues with no hope of gaining their life back due to this treatment?

beesbubble
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This dudes hand-eye coordination shouldn’t be ignored..

quinx
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Dude may act all calm and docile on camera but Pelican Bay is where they send inmates who are too violent for mainline prisons.

sla.scrptura
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When your luxuries are reduced down to “it would be nice to look out a window”. That’s serious

byronrich
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How blessed I am to see the Sun, Moon, and Stars

GoddessLinda
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Giving them more reasons to be psychotic, genius

nosoyporta
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No sunlight, lack or low vitamin D causes depression. That's crazy but gotta stay out of trouble.

michaellajones
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I’d prolly lose the ball somehow with my skill and luck ....

briobrio
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Run away from crime and criminals folks...run far far away....

OdintheGermanShepherd
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Horrifically inhumane. These men will come out more dangerous than when they went in. This is not rehabilitation. This is torture. And it will cause great anger and bitterness. Might want to not run into them on the outside.

manhattanmama
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In my opinion this is worse than death, being alone with your own mind

dario
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perfect bouncy ball room. he's going to have dangerous skills when released

Swoost
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These videos give me extreme anxiety. I can't imagine this living hell.

At the same time while these people are either evil or committed evil acts, I'm not sure how this could ever "correct" them. I feel like this would make anybody turn into an even worse version of themselves.

AdamFrancisco
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If this was a place for rent in SF it would be $4000 a month.

WSB
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I don’t get the whole isolation concept... it’s just going to make their mind even more fond of making bad/irrational decisions.

wesleys
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interviewer : WHENS THE LAST TIME U SEEN THE MOON?


Inmate: I FORGOT WE HAD ONE

tobiaslesui
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Dang when he gets out he’s gonna be a wall ball pro

zimefn
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I’d rather get the death penalty than life of this

xaviersanchez