I would like to speak on the issue of solitary confinement. Many people consider this to be a huge humanitarian issue. As a person that has spent years in solitary, I would like to suggest that the time can be used for a tremendous amount of good. This time to yourself gives you an opportunity to look within, instead of without, for your input and focus. It gave Mr. Santos from Prison Professors time to really check his thinking and for me, it did the same. Of course, to look at my record you may disagree, yet to know where I came from and how far I am from that upbringing is to know there has been huge amounts of progress. The hole never hurt me. My longest stay was 9 months straight. Yet over the course of 20 years, I’ve spent around 4 years total. These times were my time to meditate, read, and form new thoughts and ideas, separate from the influences of tv and other inmates, or peelers. The only contact I would have was a counselor, my supportive family, and whatever reading material I could get. It helped me, and I realize that there may be extremely bad conditions in many places, yet I can only speak for mine and say that I learned a lot and found my peace in solitary. I hope they don’t take that tool away. I understand now you have to have a cellmate, which I think is HORRIBLE. I believe we all deserve a moment to ourselves, to look inside. Thank you. That’s all I got for today.
Menu
