23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary

23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement

How Americaâ€™s prisons turned a â€œbrutal and inhumaneâ€ practice into standard procedure

Originally meant to be brief and exceptional, solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has become long-term and common. Prisoners spend twenty-three hours a day in featureless cells, with no visitors or human contact for years on end, and they are held entirely at administratorsâ€™ discretion. Keramet Reiter tells the history of one â€œsupermax,â€ Californiaâ€™s Pelican Bay State Prison, whose extreme conditions recently sparked a statewide hunger strike by 30,000 prisoners. This book describes how Pelican Bay was created without legislative oversight, in fearful response to 1970s radicals; how easily prisoners slip into solitary; and the mental havoc and social costs of years and decades in isolation. The product of fifteen years of research in and about prisons, this book provides essential background to a subject now drawing national attention.
Country USA
Brand Yale University Press
Manufacturer Yale University Press
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber 9780300211467
ReleaseDate 2016-10-31
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780300211467

23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement