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"These compelling reflections by people who have been entrapped within the tortures of solitary, should rekindle our abolitionist impulses at an especially critical moment in our history" Angela Y. Davis
"Offers an indispensable tool to campaigns for abolition everywhere" Juan E. Méndez, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
"Powerful … These excruciating accounts from prisoners across the country shocked even me as I read them from the madhouse of Sing Sing" John J. Lennon, contributing editor at Esquire and author of The Tragedy of True Crime
The injustice and cruelty of the US carceral system find their barbaric apogee in the practice of solitary confinement. Once deemed a form of torture by the US Supreme Court, "the hole" is still wrongly used as a solution to prison overcrowding and violence. But locking someone in a cell the size of a parking space for months or years causes profound psychological harm. For Christopher Blackwell, it was a harrowing ordeal that changed his life forever. Ending Isolation weaves Chris's vivid account with other stories from solitary, alongside insights from legal and medical experts. Through these narratives and undeniable research, the book makes a powerful case for abolishing this cruel and unusual punishment.
Christopher Blackwell is an award-winning journalist currently incarcerated in Washington State. Deborah Zalesne is a law professor at CUNY School of Law. Kwaneta Harris is a journalist who survived eight years in solitary in Texas. Terry Kupers is a leading medical expert on the harms of solitary confinement.
"Offers an indispensable tool to campaigns for abolition everywhere" Juan E. Méndez, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
"Powerful … These excruciating accounts from prisoners across the country shocked even me as I read them from the madhouse of Sing Sing" John J. Lennon, contributing editor at Esquire and author of The Tragedy of True Crime
The injustice and cruelty of the US carceral system find their barbaric apogee in the practice of solitary confinement. Once deemed a form of torture by the US Supreme Court, "the hole" is still wrongly used as a solution to prison overcrowding and violence. But locking someone in a cell the size of a parking space for months or years causes profound psychological harm. For Christopher Blackwell, it was a harrowing ordeal that changed his life forever. Ending Isolation weaves Chris's vivid account with other stories from solitary, alongside insights from legal and medical experts. Through these narratives and undeniable research, the book makes a powerful case for abolishing this cruel and unusual punishment.
Christopher Blackwell is an award-winning journalist currently incarcerated in Washington State. Deborah Zalesne is a law professor at CUNY School of Law. Kwaneta Harris is a journalist who survived eight years in solitary in Texas. Terry Kupers is a leading medical expert on the harms of solitary confinement.
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Reviews
"'For virtually the entire history of the prison, incarcerated people and their allies have sought to end solitary confinement, a punishment as desperately flawed as the institution that spawned it. These compelling reflections by people who have been entrapped within the tortures of solitary, and by those who bring them lifelines from the outside, should rekindle our abolitionist impulses at an e
Angela Y. Davis
"'The use and abuse of solitary confinement has grown over the recent decades in many countries, most significantly in the United States. The recognition that prolonged or indefinite isolation, no matter its purpose, inflicts mental pain and suffering amounting to torture is, finally, providing impulse to advocacy and mobilization to outlaw this cruel practice. An indispensable tool to campaigns f
Juan E. Mendez, Professor of Human Rights in Residence, Washington College of Law at Ameri
"'Prison journalists Christopher Blackwell and Kwaneta Harris team up with scholars to make a powerful case for ending the torture used in our prisons: solitary confinement. This oral history, which includes excruciating accounts from many prisoners across the country, even shocked me as I read it in the madhouse of Sing Sing. By revealing the real-life horror story of what's happening in the Amer
John J. Lennon, contributing editor at 'Esquire' and author of 'The Tragedy of True Crime'