SFBayView.com, via Cal Prison Focus The Sacramento Bee, 8/24/11 reports on a legislative hearing Tuesday called by Assembly Public Safety Committee Chariman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, in response to the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike last month, which drew attention to the conditions in California's solitary confinement units: Prisoner Sketch of Pelican Bay SHU
On Tuesday, a parade of witnesses testified that conditions inside the state's SHUs are similar to torture, and that inmates are confined in solitary confinement up to 23 1/2 hours a day.
"I admit to being a small-time crack dealer, I admit to being an alcoholic, I admit to being a small-time burglar," said Earl Fears, who spent time inside the SHU at Corcoran State Prison.
But, Fears said, conditions in the SHU caused great emotional stress, especially when guards decided to skip allowing inmates time to shower or refused to provide toilet paper or deliver medicine on schedule.
"I am human, and by being human I do have certain rights … ," he said.
Others who spoke said inmates find themselves locked up in the SHUs for decades, sometimes based on accusations by confidential informants they are never allowed to refute.
For more on SHU conditions, check out S. Cal. Public Radio, 8/18/11, KQED, 8/18/11, and Voices From Inside Page.