Hellhole

New Yorker by Atul Gawande | Mar. 25, 2009 (Special Report)

The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture?

One of the paradoxes of solitary confinement is that, as starved as people become for companionship, the experience typically leaves them unfit for social interaction. Once, Dellelo was allowed to have an in-person meeting with his lawyer, and he simply couldn’t handle it. After so many months in which his primary human contact had been an occasional phone call or brief conversations with an inmate down the tier, shouted through steel doors at the top of ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala - via New Yorker, Shakthi Sivanathan (t)

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4.9

by Walter Cox - Mar. 25, 2009

It would be hard to fault this story, as it brings the world of solitary confinement to the reader in a very compelling way. I doubt most people have seriously considered this issue, however anyone who fairly considers the full body of evidence will be hard-pressed to support the widespread use of solitary confinement in American prisons.

I know a man who spent the first two weeks of his life in what amounts to solitary confinement after his mother nearly died from the anesthesia administered at the time of his birth. He is now in his early fifties and suffers from various emotional problems and personality disorders.

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4.3

by Derek Hawkins - Dec. 22, 2009

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4.5

by Kaizar Campwala - Mar. 25, 2009

Kaizar posted this story.

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4.2

by Glenn LaBauve - Mar. 25, 2009

I have mixed feelings about the dearh penalty, since many of the people spend years in solitary confinement prior to their execution. While I am against the taking of human life, in many cases it is more humane than life in solitary confinement.

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