California prisons Archives

California prisons

New this week from Solitary Watch: • In an essay in our Voices from Solitary series, Cesar Villa offers a searing account of living in prolonged solitary confinement in a Security Housing Unit, or SHU, at California’s notorious Pelican Bay State Prison. “We’re only here to die. The prison administration is paid to put us down. […]

Seven Days in Solitary

California prisons

Seven Days in Solitary [10/5/22]

Voices from Solitary: Letter from Calipatria Prison Hunger Strikers

Voices from Solitary: “We Will Not Stop Until We Are Heard”

Voices from Solitary: Isolated for Having a “Gang” Calendar

Voices from Solitary: The Safari from Pelikkkan Bay

Seven Days in Solitary [4.12.13]

Seven Days in Solitary [5/4/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [7/28/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [10/20/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [10/27/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [6/23/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [7/21/13]

Seven Days in Solitary [12/1/13]

Suicide of California Hunger Strike Participant Draws National Attention to a Broken System

Women in Solitary Confinement: “The Isolation Degenerates Us Into Madness”

At Hearing on Solitary Confinement in California Prisons, Advocates Challenge “Reforms”

In California Death Row’s “Adjustment Center,” Condemned Men Wait in Solitary Confinement

After California Prisons Release “Gang Affiliates” From Solitary Confinement, Costs and Violence Levels Drop

California Announces Reform of Controversial Policies That Led to Prison Hunger Strike

California Prisoners in Solitary Confinement Petition the UN to Intervene

Seven Months After Historic Prison Hunger Strike, Opponents of Solitary in California Gauge the Pace of Change

After Hunger Strikes, Solitary Reforms Come to California’s Prisons—and Leave Thousands Behind

In Landmark Settlement, Solitary Confinement to Be Dramatically Reduced in California Prisons

How Many People Are In Solitary Confinement in California’s Prisons?

Videos Show Abuse of Mentally Ill in California Prisons

As 30,000 Join California Prison Hunger Strike, Corrections Officials Issue Guidelines on Starvation

One Month After Historic Hunger Strike, California Lawmakers Hold Hearings on Solitary Confinement

“Occupy” Prison Protests in California Oppose Use of Solitary Confinement

California Department of Corrections Threatens Prison Hunger Strikers, Bans Lawyers