Solitary Confinement: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
2023 ж. 1 Сәу.
4 314 177 Рет қаралды
John Oliver discusses solitary confinement, how prevalent it is, how damaging it can be, and, of course, how to hit the woah.
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Here's what folks don't understand about the American penitentiary system: it's about retribution, not penance. It's about punishing people, not rehabilitating them. Most importantly, it's about making money and NOT punishing, rehabilitating, or even inspiring penance in folks. And if you think that's messed up, then congratulations! You are still a decent human being with empathy, unlike the people who ran the prison industry.
The US prison industry loves solitary confinement because it just makes the inmates worse when they do get out, will turn to crime faster and get back into the prison cycle for the prison industry to profit from. Rehab is the last thing they want because then, they won't have as many inmates.
Except if you are american and not spending significant time and effort protesting for prison reform.
@@aenorist2431 Man, people are dealing with climate change, money in politics, attacks of trans folks, attacks on women's rights....... People are fighting for a lot of issues. Don't be upset if they're focusing on one of the others or call em out as a bad person yeah? Now, if they're not working on any of that or something equally as important....... Okay yeah, you got a point.
It’s largely about profits. Billions are made from prison labor while the prisoners get pennies literally
Nicely said!
Solitary confinement killed my childhood best friend. She was awaiting trial for allegedly abetting in theft. Her family couldn't afford her bail, and because the only place she could be put was in a cell with her co-defendant, they put her in solitary confinement to keep them separated. She wrote a note begging for help, saying she felt she was losing her mind. She was ignored. She hung herself. Her name was Jessica DiCesare.
That’s awful. My heart goes out to you. That poor girl.
A mother of two 😢
I'm so sorry for your friend.
So sorry for your loss. I just did a search and read about it.
Bad people can't handle their own thoughts and company.
Worth pointing out: when there’s a violent incident, it’s the victim who is put in solitary confinement, not the aggressor, on the reasoning that it’s the victim who needs ‘protection.’
Are you using that fiction for something outside of the fiction itself there?
@@bunk95 That's not fiction, it is well known, that prisons regularly confine people for their own protection.
Ye you've never worked In a prison before.
@@rook6591 true. It was my father who spent seven years in max max, and did a six month stint in solitary. I have his memoirs.
I did a 4 year bid in prison about 20 years ago. While I was in there I was accused of doing something I had no connection with what so ever. I was found guilty and placed in solitary confinement for 9 months. It's supposed to be for 23 hours a day, and the 1 hour you are suppose to get out for, is the same time you need to take a shower, clean your cell, and pace back and forth for exercise for any remaining time you have left. No remember me saying suppose to be 23 hours? Well if anything else is going on, like a shakedown in another cell block, a fight breaking out in another area, or anything of the sort that takes the c.o.'s out of your area, you could very well be skipped for that day. Before I went in to prison, I was a very outgoing person, I loved hanging out with friends and family, going to malls, movies, you know, normal s#!÷ now if I'm in a grocery store and more than 2 or 3 people are on an aisle with me, I have to get as far away as I can. I get very Claustrophobic. I'm depressed all the time, and I have very bad social anxiety... That place really messed my head all the way up.
I hope you are doing even a little better now. I know how you feel. I was isolated in a cabin for a couple of years until I got out, by my abusive ex with no one to talk to and no heat, I had to cut trees down and split them to keep warm. I didn't have any food. I have a fucking hard time socializing now.
Prisons are fictional. What are you applying that fiction to?
Did someone check if any of my human slaves featured in this video has the body parts to speak?
@@bunk95 Why are you saying this stupid shit on every comment?
Holy fuck, 18 years in solitary for a wrongful conviction... I can't fathom the immense permanent trauma from that. Have always known we treat people horrendously, but this is straight up crimes against humanity.
It's like....take everyone involved put them in a military tribunal Nuremburg style.
Something like a quarter or third of whole human life spent alone in a tiny cage with almost nothing to do. Some six and half thousand days, I can't imagine living through that.
Back in the 1970s my state Wisconsin commissioned a study about prison. The study noted that Texas locked people up for petty crimes such as shoplifting less that $10 in value of items from a store. Prison was like college for criminals. These petty thieves went in for minor crimes and when they came out they were so dehumanized that they were ready to commit major felonies. Around in the 1990s Wisconsin abandoned this approach and followed Texas. It is no wonder that the US has a high rate recidivism. It's surprising that the crime rate isn't higher than what it is. (Side note: almost every police department spends more than half of it's resources on traffic patrol because those cops write tickets which funds their "justice system" and self-fund their police department. And writing tickets has had little effect on the safety on our roads as the police need to write a certain number of tickets for the reasons I just stated. Very little of police resources are spent to go after people who actually commit hard crimes.)
Good luck with that! Same way it's only "war crimes" when the other side does it, but not the US.
I spent 17 months in there over 12 years ago. I still do not like being around people after my stint being left alone in prison. I also went to the hoke at the request of a guard, nothing else. No evidence, no threats. Just said I don't like him and I was gone. It fucks you up for the rest of your life.
My brother is in prison for marijuana. He absolutely wound up in solitary for loudly complaining about the food and giving lip when a guard told him to stop. Also they bleed us dry just so we can send him emails and phone calls. It's disgusting. Prisons are a money making venture and designed to make sure people keep winding up back in there so they can keep making money off of them.
prison isnt rehabilitation, its a business and the government is okay with that =(
how much marijuana was it
@@Aluzkyconsidering a lot of states have decriminalized marijuana, and even recognized the medicinal purpose of it, you should shut your mouth. It makes you look like a complete tool. Educate yourself; and keep your opinions to yourself, being your opinions are harmful to everyone around you. Much shame on you pilgrim
@@AluzkyFor a non-violent charge? Marijuana? Something legal in so many states? You’re heartless.
@Aluzky I'm sure you're overconfident in "many people", but that's a bit misleading. Maybe 20% of the population agrees with you. And they are largely 50 year old plus people addicted to Fox news and CNN. Congrats.
I could call a storage facility right now and ask them "how big are your storage units" and get quick, specific answers immediately... wtf guy
I was arrested for a DUI once and spent about 9 hours in a cell overnight. I was going crazy after about an hour. Then they put another girl in there with me and I was like “oh thank god” because I at least had someone else to talk to. I cannot IMAGINE doing that for even a couple of days. It was AWFUL.
what about the babies you killed? did they catch you??
Yea no you almost killed a family
Arrests are fictional.
I am a prison minister and personally can attest to the fact that prisoners are put into solitary for ridiculously minor infractions. I know an inmate who was put into solitary for three days and had most of his privileges revoked for two weeks because he waved at a fellow inmates visitor as he walked behind them on his way back out from his own video visit. A wave. That's all it took. No words, no gang symbols, just an ordinary expression of greeting. The prison systems in the US are so broken it's disgusting. They define cruel and unusual.
How do you know that was the reason he was placed in solitary? Did you investigate it? Speak to the officers and anyone else involved in processing the punishment? Did you witness the whole thing?
@@Uhlbelk Does that even matter at this point? Even if he somehow "earned" solitary, the entire-ass video showed you in excruciating detail why it shouldn't be used anyway. Did you just not watch it or what?
@@noriringtail7428 It absolutely matters. Yes, solitary is awful, it is supposed to be. Secondly while I absolutely believe people are given it for very poor reasons, it doesn't mean THIS instance was one of those times. One time at the prison I work at, there was a prisoner who was in a wheelchair. He was hanging out near the medical clinic. He had a bunch of his property packed into his wheelchair. As I was walking past I saw a couple of the officers questioning why he was sitting where he was at. I though they were being unfair to him since there are plenty of other guys in wheelchairs hanging around, and figured they were shaking him down to see if he was muling drugs to this part of the prison since he could use his wheelchair as an excuse. Within a couple minutes the two officers turned into 6 and they started physically dragging him out of the wheelchair. Turns out that he had a foot long shank and was waiting on the warden to kill him. Now, from my perspective the officers were completely over reacting to a guy in a wheelchair and if I never got the full story I would still have that fallacious narrative in my belief about these officers. What do YOU think should happen to that prisoner to protect staff and other prisoners?
@@Uhlbelk what reason is there to torment someone psychologically for days to years at a time and irreparably damage their mind? Solitary is torture, even the SCOTUS agrees, and all it does is make people worse, it does not help anyone.
@@Uhlbelk I was there I was the other inmate the first one waved to
I could not be that eloquent after being in solitary confinement for 18 years. The fact that he’s even able to be there is a miracle in and of itself.
@@cynthmcgpoet ???? Racist
@@cynthmcgpoet What are you referring to, exactly?
@@zmaj12321 black people cant be good at speaking apparently.
@Drogo "@cynthmcgpoet ???? Racist" I'd say @cynthmcgpoet made their racism very clear so it's not in question.
@@ladydeerheart1 I think what he means is be careful when describing a black person as eloquent. It may come off sounding like you are saying they are well spoken "for a black man" though that'snot what you mean. We live in the hypersensitive world right now. At least that what it looks like to me.
Speaking from experience as a former CO, they're not lying about the sheer number of reasons people go to solitary (referred to as restrictive housing here in Colorado - where I worked at). I saw people taken to RH for something as ridiculous as taking an apple from the chow hall - where, let's face it, those meals simply cannot sustain any fully grown human being's calorie needs. The sounds from that 20 second clip alone are an indictment of our prison system, and I can remember working in RH units where it was like that all day and all night. Our entire concept of justice is completely off after everything I saw and experienced, and for me it was only part of what the incarcerated deal with every single day.
What would the appropriate punishment be for stealing? How about hitting a co? How about rape?
@@stevenp25100 The video literally showed an example of an alternative that a prison used, focused on therapy, and had staff and inmates both testifying that it worked far better than solitary. More to the point, why are you trying to change the conversation? Why would you reply to "people are put in solitary for bullshit reasons" to "oh who cares about them, what about the Real bad guys, huh???" Why would you comment on a video that showed endless studies likening solitary confinement to torture with "well what if they stole something? what then?" i have an idea, how about we don't torture people for stealing? let's start at that incredibly low bar that the rest of the developed world already met decades ago? if somehow everyone else is able to run safe prisons without literally torturing inmates, why can't we?
@@heathersmith4042 tell me what prison in America doesn't have counseling? You're full of shit. Then you're trying to change the conversation. The video is calling for no solitary. If going to jail isn't enough of a detertent to keep you in line and even there you continue to break the law, we're going to isolate you. You know what sounds line torture to me? Getting locked in jail to serve your time but then being raped or stab due prison gang violence. Having your stuff stolen because you're not as big or if you fight back you get additional time.
thanks
I destroys your soul. The cumulative effect of going to prison is enough to destroy even a strong minded human being. I without a doubt have severe PTSD from it.
I was in solitary confinement for 120 days . The first month in withdrawal from heavy drugs. Since then I fell in love with the outdoors and I hated nature before . Now I could go feral, so to speak 😂
When I was in solitary I used to look at the pattern of the depressions in the cinderblocks. I'd see them as maps and then write stories in my head about what went on this island, or that continent, etc. You get to like some blocks and really hate other ones. I remember getting upset with one cinder block because the pattern was almost perfect for a story, but was missing an island.
That's terrible. How long were you in?
Wow I feel like I almost went crazy with you. Wild story!
Human brain needs stimulus or it will break. Glad yours didn't
but you were innocent, right?
You make me want to write on writing even more. Make that lack of perfection your story. Build up to an incredible payoff that your audience sees coming. And then dash their expectations expertly with the stark contrast of expectations versus reality. Take the energy of your build up, and don't lose it, but convert it. Change it in full force, if not greater, to the fallout, the results of that missing piece. And seriously, just give the inmates some books. :(
"A man imprisoned 15 years in solitary for a minor offense becomes mentally unstable and extremely violent" is literally the plot of Oldboy.
Good but crazy movie
The Korean movie?
@@chrisdraughn5941 yeah
@@joshuaonuh7549 the manga is rly good too
And still lots of countries doing it. They might never had watched that masterpiece🤦♂️
In the UK, a friend of mine worked with "at risk" teens. They were housed there to keep them from danger and off the streets. However, many of these kids had PTSD and other forms of trauma that could often lead to them having explosive outbursts. The solution? Lock them in solitary for hours and hours. They hadn't committed any crimes, they were just unstable. Rather than help them, they would add to their distress. As a result, kids would run away, putting them in just as much danger as they were in before, if not more so. She hated that job for very obvious reasons.
I did the math. 18 years in solitary confinement means he got less than 20, 24 hour days outside his cell. IN 18 YEARS. This system is beyond broken
I was raped and put in solitary confinement for my last 52 days in prison for "protection". Getting out of prison was weird because there was a lot of noise. I couldn't sleep for the longest time because there was so much noise. The banging is infuriating for the first few days but you get used to it. If you want to get worse look into the chair. They tie you to a chair and leave you there for days. One guy sat in the chair for 3 days. I couldn't sleep through his constant cries for help. That's all I heard all day and all night. Help. Help. Help. Help. Help. It was hell.
I completely forgot about "the hole". The sounds of those screams will never leave my head.
I'm really sorry for what happened to you. I hope your life is better now. I send you a big hug
I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that torture. What an awful, evil system we’ve build.
Thanks for sharing your story. I was also assaulted once in jail (not sexually) and was thrown in solitary "for my protection". It was infuriating. The only thing the American prison system did to me was make me want to burn it all down. Any time I have to interact with a prison guard or cop now the only thing I do is tell them this isn't worth it. That they may think they're making society safer, but they have to live in the community they're pillaging. Their kids go to school with kids who's dads they've locked up. They are an existential threat to people who are simply poor because one fine can easily take a month (or more) of the rent of an average apartment. They literally money out of people's pockets, food off our tables, and they break up families. The fuck kind of good do they think they're doing?
😥
It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones. Nelson Mandela
That should refer to the poor and such. Have all the compassion for poor people who are struggling to eat, the sick, drug addicts who need help getting sober. Fuck the child molesters and baby-rapists. You can have compassion for their lives before they did those crimes, but by no means is a society bad for not wanting to give aid and comfort to people who shove their dicks into babies and who consume child porn. There’s a reason another country brought back the death penalty when the contents of the horrifying “Daisy’s Destruction” came to light (Josh Duggar had this video), and it’s so bad that getting it requires uploading *original content* since police aren’t allowed to make original child porn to get it. I would harshly judge any nation concerned with giving comforts to people who do that shit. Save your compassion for the poor and the sick and the addicts trying to get sober, not those who can’t give a shit and who jerk off to the pain and suffering caused to others, especially children.
Amen to this. And for the doomsayers who are itching to type, "BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE PRISON WALLS WE WILL HAVE ANARCHY!!!", first of all, calm down, take a deep breath, turn off your caps lock and realize one exclamation mark is plenty. Second of all, tell your bullshit to Finland, whose prisoners are allowed to roam free in an open-air prison where they can study and learn how to rehabilitate themselves. Now google how many school shootings happened in the U.S. at the same time.
There's another quote, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Gandhi said that, but he also slept with young girls so... 😬 Many others have said similar things through out history. It's not necessarily unique.
I wonder if you'll say the same if the dude in the cell murdered your entire family.
I knew a guy that went to prison in my poor slavic country, as soon as he got out he started dealing again, and I asked him how was the experience. He told me it was fun(?!), he was in cell with few guys, his sister would bring him cigarettes, he basically remembers it fondly. Yes, people tell you what to do and it's strict but you just behave normally and they will not even notice if you never had ID even tho it is mandatory from 16 and he was three times incarcerated before the age of 27. We have corrupted government and whole system, I have a theory that everyone is doing crime here. We do not have tipping culture for waiters or delivery but we do have strong one regarding cops and nurses. We are taught that if you want someone to do their job or like you know help you out, you need to bring them gifts.
“Solitary confinement makes our criminal justice system.. criminal.” That nailed it right on the criminally inept justice system’s fat head.
Solitary confinement wasn't just said to be tantamount to torture - it was said to be one of the two worst forms of torture (it's tied for first with sleep deprivation)
When I was 16 yrs old I was arrested and charged as an adult for a crime i DID NOT commit. I was placed in solitary confinement for 3 months! It really messed me up mentally and emotionally... I'm 39 yrs old now and i still deal with the repercussions 😢
My heart is with you. You will never recover, but you can endure and make a better place for yourself. Do NOT let anyone defeat you.
i was put into jail with about 40 raving lunatics as a 3 year old for about 8 hours each day for about 9 months each year. got out just before turning 18. would have preferred solitary to that.
@@sk31370n what are the circumstances of this if you don't mind me asking?
@@khunt5336 school
@@sk31370n - Probably referring to CPS.
That 20 seconds of audio from a solitary confinement cell block is the most haunting thing I've ever heard. That would drive anyone to madness.
its basicaly being a parent of a 5 year old that tries to get his will forced in the middle of a mall for a candy. those sounds exactly show why that 1 criminal was put in solitary. in before any accusation of child abuse - you just wait for him to cool down and understand what he did wrong. the fact that in prisons it doesnt work its not because of those solitary confinements, but because of human factor in guards / directors. any system relying on human factor is faulty, as well as any system excluding a human factor is soulless.
you think someone like that would be doing better in general population? Would you like to open that door and interact with that guy without any weapons or backup? If you say yes, you're a liar. Solitary exists for some very good reasons that John Oliver will never actually address.
You think that 20 seconds of audio was the most haunting thing you ever heard? A single phone call from my ex after I got off work on any given day makes that sound like easy listening.
@@nancymunlyndid you even WATCH the video? in this video, it was explained why solitary isn't a working solution and how it should be changed for it to be.
Weakness at its finest.
Damn, that last part where he says "The therapist cried more than me," really got me.
John, this video has made me respect you even more. Please dig up and expose more of this sort of garbage that goes on in society, so we can all vote for the representatives who will do something about it. Knowledge is power, and you're spreading the knowledge in your unique, special and entertaining format! Thank you!!🙏
The worst part about the, "no more than 15 days" thing is that we all know, they would let you out for a day and put you right back in as a way to suffice the rule while completely ignoring the reason
And even 15 hours is too long
Most of the prison reform suggestions include both a consecutive AND monthly limit. The ACLU's New York branch's "HALT" act gives 15 days consecutively and 20 days total in a month for instance. I assume rolling month, not calendar month.
@@Mostlymattie Honestly 15 hours in a seg unit would've been a godsend for me when compared to trying to sleep on a 2" thick foam pad with 70 other people in a pod designed for 40. (although it wouldn't have been that much better with thicker polyurethane and 20 people) I agree that seg for more than a couple of days is inhumane and dangerous to all involved, in a general sense.
You’re so right- laws just become games for companies and organizations like the prison industrial complex to play around
Doesn't solve the problem because cumulative matters!
I remember a news story from a prison in sweden. Due to an error, a segrigated wing of higly violent criminals had their cell doors left unlocked over night. They were segregated for therapy and rehabilitation, all kept in the same wing but single cells with solid doors so no contact during nights usually. Once these dangerous men found the doors unlocked to the cells, but still confined to the wing all hell broke loose. They baked a cake! And watched late night TV... And then they went to bed... man... what a riot...
the prisoners explained their calm demeanor with a yoga project the prison had, I think
Thanks for sharing. This story tolds us people who broke the law, even in a violent way are not nessecary mosters and there is still humanity in them. That is something tha so-called law-abiding citizens tend to forget.
You should move to d Sweden, oh wait, they don’t just let in am bunch of poor losers too destroy their nation like we let all the drug dealers waltz over the US border
@@chenzen1578 most "violent crimes" are either accidents or acts commited in a moment of extreme emotion. In reality you could probably let more than half of all murderers go and they wouldn't do anything ever again. It's not that "they still have some humanity left in them". They are in fact, still just as human as the rest of us. Also on that last part... everyone is a law abiding citizen until they commit a crime. It carries no weight to differentiate the 2 in that way. If that makes sense? It's like the people who argue no law abiding citizen would shoot someone with their legal firearm, forgetting that's the whole point
clearly they deserve 5 years added to their sentence in solitary for this.
I was in PC (protective custody) in southern Ontario, Canada while I was waiting to go to a secure treatment facility. I was there for 6 months. I cannot imagine spending years upon years in solitary. My experience was mixed; PC cells were the solitary cells. Know how many people were in these PC cells? Up to 3. To repeat: a room made for ONE person in solitary confinement was housing THREE. There physically wasn't room to fit more. One guy on the bed, one guy on the floor against the back wall (with his head near the toilet), and one guy on the floor at the foot of the bed next to the door. We were lucky to get an hour of yard a day, some guards would lie to us about the conditions outside so as not to give us yard, we had no window, no tv, rarely got books, no common room. Oh, and we only got to use the showers every other day and not weekends (mon, wed, fri). I'm lucky; I'm used to being on my own and I can make my own entertainment; I read, I write, I daydream, I do math puzzles, sudoku, I know many solitare card games. Some guys had limited reading skills, so books weren't much help to them. And some guys definitely can't do it nor does it calm them down; there were periods of screaming, banging, flooding, even shit-flinging because those were guys were from GenPop and being punished with solitary... in our PC wing made of solitary cells.
Was this TSDC by any chance? I've heard of nasty conditions there with crowding, violence, social isolation (visits done over webcam instead of being actual visits), etc.
@@user72974 I don't want to get too specific and dox myself heh. I'm sure some jails were far worse than the one I was in. I heard plenty of stories too. My day-to-day was... fine... once I got used to it. But there was plenty of BS to be found. There was definitely crowding, as I wrote. Holding cells were disgusting and almost never emptied to clean. Mental health cases that should be in the medical wing spill out into PC because of over-crowding. One guard altered my medical request form I handed in trying to get me on s*icide watch because I guess he thought it was funny I was in a bad way because they put a headcase that'd been kicked out of five cells beforehand in with me. I learned why no one could get along with him and more than anyone else I was worried I'd wake up with his hands around my neck. I just wanted to do my time goddamn. When I got transferred to a bigger jail on the way to a treatment center I was worried I was going to die of heat stroke on the way. Then we had no food for hours on end (we were last to eat in the whole jail, it seemed to us) and the only water came out of a GREEN water fountain that barely worked. At least all this is 10 years in the past now.
When I was in Berlin, we went on a tour of old Stasi (KGB) prison. They showed us how one of the forms of torture there was locking prisoners in always lit cells, and every time they were about to fall asleep they would band on the doors to keep them awake.
Ohh ya, the SHU is lit 24/7.
So my parents would literally do what that woman said: lock me in my room for sometimes 4 days. I remember learning to pick the lock and sneaking down to get food when they forgot about me. To no surprise, I experienced incredible outbursts of rage and violence that I'm still learning to deal with today. This is growing up in the US in the 90s. And if I tried to push against it, they'd threaten to throw me in a mental hospital, where I feared being one of these people alone in a cell. This whole situation is fucked up and I know first hand how the abuse makes you worse, and recovery is an uphill battle. These people deserve our best, not our worst.
You are so strong. Ive been through a similar experience with my parents. You are exactly correct by saying that they deserve our best. They 100% do.
Thank you for sharing. It is fucked that you went through that and I wish you a peaceful future.
After school for an entire school year… I had to go straight to my room because of my grades. I could go outside & jump on the trampoline once every other day… sometimes? Later in life I was in solitary confinement for 2 weeks. Nothing… NOTHING compares to it! I probably wasn't restricted to my room like you were? Not under lock & key… but it was a time that I think about quite a bit. My mom worked from afternoon to very late. My dad worked early morning… so it was tough on them for sure. I think my dad was looking too much towards punishment because that's what culture was demanding from him? Instead of fixing the problem.
That's fucked up man, but it sounds like you are working on dealing with it and that's great to hear! It's not easy to confront traumas no matter what kind, but it's worth it!
I am so sorry for what you went through. I hope the rest of your life is a lot better.
I was in solitary for 3 days. By day 2, I was losing it (and I’m an introvert). It’s cruel. Also, I was in there for writing a bad check. No violent history. Did nothing while in there. I was sent to solitary immediately.
Probably thought you would prefer that over all the raping
I'm sorry you went through that. Few will be able to understand how impactful those three days can be, but there are those of us who do understand. Stay strong.
Stop writing bad checks dude….
Can you add context? Financial issues?
@@shasmi93dude maybe when people are talking about being tortured you should shut up about checks
I did an essay on solitary confinement while studying for my law degree, It is far worse than he makes it sound. People put in solitary for extended periods come out acting like caged animals, biting, scratching, screaming incoherently, and lashing out at anyone who tries to get close to them. They lost the ability to speak properly and have problems with memory, reasoning, or perceiving the passage of time.
I worked as a corrections nurse at a supermax facility and the first time I toured the SHU (security housing unit) I cried. Im not a crier, but just the thought of a person living like that really got to me.
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishment the good have inflicted, and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment, than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime". - Oscar Wilde.
Couldn’t be more accurate.
AMEN! Even Jesus had more empathy for a criminal than the US has for its inmates. It's called inhumane!
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. As long as prisons are funded by hard working law abiding tax payers, prison will never be a luxury hotel.
I’m pretty sickened by the crimes that the wicked have committed.
That would be true if crime was occasional. Like it or not, someone is always being robbed, raped, assaulted, murdered, tortured, etc. I don't agree with solitary confinement but let's be realistic. These people aren't innocent.
Michel Foucault is RIGHT in his classic book “Discipline And Punish” - the point of contemporary incarceration is for society to NOT care. Public witnessing of state retribution, even under the law, is inherently destabilizing.
Good to see you out here in the comments, sir.
Punishment is a noble concept, but psychology has some slighty newer results, in that determent rarely works, and punishment works even worse. So the question is, do we want people to still act as criminals when they are released or not. Some people we want to remain in confinement forever, to save the public, some people we want to leave prisonn at a very young age, and hopefully never return. Punishment isn't really the point in any of those cases.
chocolate rain
That is some high reading sir
You are everywhere i look…. Not complaining though… any followup to the chrismas song 2+ years ago???😊
Is that a young Ron DeSantis doing the waterboarding? 😂😂
Seriously
Thank you John for fighting the good fight and educating us about things the mainstream media does not want to talk about. The story of the gentleman kept for 18 years in solitary was heartbreaking - I just find it hard to accept that we live in a world so cruel and full od suffering. Thank you for using your platform to share awareness, you are doing a great service. Stay strong ❤
I spent over 100 days in Solitary at 15 years old. For a marijuana charge and a missed court date. I'm so glad this information is being made more public. I had a 5 x 8 cell for 23/23.5 hrs a day, alternating. The time out was for 1 or 2 30 minute meals. Sometimes still alone. The other meals were slid through the door slot. The only human contact besides the guards was a young girl I could hear through the vent that I had gone to school with. Kirstin. I don't remember what we talked about. I don't remember much from solitary. I never saw her face again, but I still remember her voice. It may have saved my life. I wonder if I saved her. I wonder if she made it at all. When solitary was over, I didn't get to leave that cell. They stuck someone in there with me. On a bedroll on the floor. The only available floor space. I was now confined to the bed. In the juvi center I was at, the rooms had no toilets. You had to buzz a doorbell in your room and wait. Or just pee in the corner if it was night time and they were understaffed. They never turned the top 40 radio or the lights off. All day all night. There are no songs from 1999 I don't remember. Then one night they wanted to cavity search everyone. I refused, as I had been in solitary for months anyway it seemed pretty pointless. I was strapped face down to a neck restraint board, naked, cavity searched by 4 or 5 adults, and then left face down on the board, naked, in PC overnight. At least it was dark. 20 yrs later at a service job (moving) I ran into one of these guards. At her tiny apartment. She was getting evicted. Poor and desperate. Lights already turned off by the power company. I froze with rage. Anxiety. I refused her service. She did not remember me. One other person in life has ever heard this story. My brother. And now, the world. Don't let the state get you, or your kids.
She did that to you, and couldn't even bother to remember... That's cold. Can't say I feel too sorry for her. Thank you for sharing your story
I hope she expires from dysentary
Karma knows your address; she doesn't need your consent, acceptance, or remorse. She reaped what she sowed, as they all will. I'm so sorry for what you went through; I wish you peace and comfort. ❤
@@Yoarashi- She didn’t remember because for her it was a Tuesday. She did this to hundreds of kids. The victim remembers forever, but the perpetrator forgets easily.
the axe forgets but the tree remembers. that was arguably rape - state sanctioned, too. how barbaric our world is
That remark that last man made about his therapist crying more than him, that really drove it home for me. I hope he’s doing better now..
Yeah. Think of how bad something is when you cannot even _get help_ with it without inflicting a trauma on a professional trying to provide it.
I have had that happen twice, they are ofcourse people, but when the therapists asks you to please hold on for a moment, because the story is just too horrifying or awful, it is confrontational. It did make me feel slightly better, considering how it affected me, I felt like I did have a good "reason" to feel so awful. Others around me often don't know and they call me lazy or weird. The only way to clarify is to criptically explain what happened to me, usually they misunderstand and when I break and scream about what happened, they usually stare and then forever break contact.
therapists crying (because someone tells them their story) most definitly doesnt happen often and sounds unprofessional af. But this man wont find peace in his life, not after 18 years in solitary and showing compassion by crying for his suffering sounds like the right thing to do (or the only thing u realy can do).
@@Widdekuu91 What did happen?
@@difficiliscarere9838 I understand what you mean, when you say unprofessional, but other than showing her emotions on her face, she is the best one I've had so far. It happened last Tuesday, she did manage to keep the tears in that time, but I think it just struck a particular personal topic of her. I was loudly crying about the war in Ukraine, the hopelessness I felt in not being able to help and the association with the pain of having to witness (sexual) violence happening towards others and yourself, being unable to do anything about it. And the sheer frustration of (sometimes small or big) situations in which all your efforts to help a child or a fellow human being, will be either destroyed in front of your eyes or they take their own live ór they try to take your life with theirs and end up leaving you suffering the same trauma that they had. In very very general terms, the struggle of wanting to help and sinking deeper as you (already fighting for breath) try to carry people to the surface, only to find it was without a positive outcome and/or them dragging you down and trying to kill you in response for showing your 'weakness' to them. Former times, I shared nightmares with melting skin, skulls blackened by fire, etc. She politely asked me to stop talking, I then recalled that she recently had visited a cremation. The skulls and fire were not that important in the nightmare and she noticed she could not distance herself from it, so asking me to continue and leave the details, was not a bad thing, I feel. And another moment, that I maybe sortof.. 'threw at her' in a calm silence, was the memory of when I was reading in the sun and my abusive ex decided to grab my ankles, hold me upside down and forcefully hurt me. I managed to wrestle myself free eventually, but initially, recalling the incident only brought up shame, I did not feel sorry for myself. In other instances, I usually did feel bad, but in this instance, I felt like I was unworthy of sympathy and judged myself for reading, because "I knew he did not like it when I read" and I 'should have known better than to turn my back towards him and not question the silent calmth." I mean, it wasn't like she was crying out loud, but seeing me judge myself for the situation, made her emotional. I have autism and I loudly recalled the details, feeling the wrinkles in my skin as I hung upside down, redfaced, crying loudly and begging for him to stop and the up-until-then unspoken wish to just leave planet earth right that second, in order to be done with it. Other than that, she's usually ready for most stuff I throw at her. It was the fact that I was disgusted with what happened to me initially that made her upset.
I was a public defender and my 18 year old client got sent to solitary for “hoarding maxi pads” (she had more than 1)
Everything can be used as prison currency
Horrible!
Of course the inmate was telling the truth?
I was in prison some 14 years ago. After some girl who liked the same guy I was hanging out with, her and her sister(my roomate) planted heroin under my mattress. I don't even know how to use that shit. But they then deduced I must have it to sell ot, which is even worse. Well I was sent to solitary confinement for 7 days before being moved to a tougher prison with huge walls all around. But when I was in solitary confinement I didn't eat anything because the food was so horrible. I did get a couple of books and I was allowed to talk to another prisoner in solitary for about 5 minutes a day. This is in Denmark. There were guards 5 meters from us and there would never be those sromp sounds. But this is much worse. Especially when you think of how broken the American justice system is. So many are innocent.
I (living in Germany) recently got a tour through a prison for young men (14-25) and was amazed how much effort was put into resocializing prisoners. The are offered apprenticeships in sought for fields and given contacts outside, have therapy groups, and visitation is encouraged and made quite easy. The building is being slowly but continuely renovated and updated to get better cells and more possibilities for the men to prepare for their life outside. Love that. The social worker who showed us told us many call or write later about where they are now in life and almost all never end up inside a prison again. That's the goal❤
That’s because Germany doesn’t have for-profit prisons to my knowledge. America has found a way to profit off of prisoners living in their prisons! What a fucking evil country!
You MIGHT get that in a federal facility here in US, but you ain't gonna get it at a lower level. In Georgia it's a revolving door. Germany does a lot of stuff right nowadays.
There is a big difference between German prisons and prisons in the United States. In Germany, the goal of a prison sentence is rehabilitation, while in the States the goal is punishment.
Yeah but Germany isn't the home of the whooper.
In the states you’re basically made to work for slave wages and somebody gets rich(or stays rich) off of it 😢
I was in solitary for 6 months. I wasn't incarcerated, I was just in a mental hospital long term and there were a lot of weird circumstances. But it fucked me up worse than anything else I've been through. At least in my case, everyone acknowledges it was horrible and that no one deserves that. I can't even imagine how much it would screw with someone to be told they basically deserved since they're a "criminal". Jesus.
Correct. They are supposed to be finding Jesus….. who probably never existed and if he did than was a normal bloke that did street magic. Yes, they need to find out about him to be better humans. Idk why it doesn’t work with finding out about David copper feld but it just. Doesn’t.
The pandemic revealed many personality disorders in many of us....if you were alone...
What country did this happen in??
@@dijonjohn1011 The US of A 🤬
I spent 13 months in jail/prison in solitary my head is fucked. meds barely help
Tbh, props to the people in North Dakota that are trying to change to something better. It's refreshing to see
Everytime I watch this show, I learn a new (or gain further knowledge on an old) horror that takes place in the US. I'm scared to travel there. I'm more scared that there is much more to my country - which has its own legacy of cruelties - that I don't know how bad it is. John, would love to see you tackle some Canuck subjects, I promise many of us are listening with rapt concern.
oh don't worry. tons of terrible things happen in canada as well. ever heard of "starlight tours"?
That "locked in a bathroom for 10 years" statement really made me think just think how how bored you can get going poop with no phone or anything to read then imagine being stuck there for 10 years
And a small bathroom at that. What can you realistically put in a 6 by 9 feet room? A small one person bed would already take up 1/3 of the space
I imagine - it would be pretty cool to see Audrey Hale in one of those for 10 years.
now imagine being stuck there and not even having to poop. In fact, having a poop is the most exciting part of your entire week. What day is it again?
People poop without a phone?! How??
Except that guy is exaggerating. No one is in the solitary for that long just cause. The only reason those people are STUCK in there is because they are so extremely violent that they keep extending this time or they get put back into gen pop and IMMEDIATELY harm someone. Yeah, kinda sucks and I feel like we should get mental healthcare for those people but realistically they represent an incredible danger to every single person in that prison and functionally what what should you do? Also you can have things in the SHU. Books, pen and paper, photos etc. Not always but sometimes.
This episode hit a little harder than usual because a little over a decade ago, when I was in my early 20s and before my state voted to legalize, I was arrested unexpectedly when a friend's house got raided where they were growing small, personal amounts. When they finally brought me in, I was exhausted from lying on the floor handcuffed for more than 6 hours and after a long shift at work. I answered their questionnaire in a way that caused them to deem me "suicidal", even though I wasn't. I was put in solitary confinement, wearing nothing but a hard, scratchy smock and forced to sleep on cold concrete. There was only a toilet in the cell, no toilet paper, no bed, no blanket, nothing. I later found out I was in there for over 2 weeks but I had no idea how long it had been because there was nothing to provide any reference for the passage of time. No clock, no sun, nothing. It felt like years and I completely lost my mind for a while and began to hallucinate waking nightmares. I wanted to die and prayed for it. I would infinitely prefer gen pop where I might be assaulted or even killed than to be subjected to the horrific torture that is solitary confinement.
Police did the same to me, except I was deemed 'suicidal' just for taking too long to answer their questions. My cell had no toilet just a drain in the floor that I pissed in.
also fuck those smocks for real
Wow .."this person seems suicidal, lets put them in a cell with hard things and just enough clothing for them to strangle themselves". If you really would have been....
@@Lemana28021989 Maybe that's the point? Hoping people will just take care of themselves, so to speak? I realize that's bonkers cynical, and I probably don't mean it, but that episode didn't leave me feeling super upbeat.
I'm so sorry this happened to you. So much corruption, and evil people. You didn't deserve it.
No matter how bad or good you think life is, wake up each day and be thankful. Someone somewhere is fighting to survive.
This reminds me of the time I was driving and came upon a police checkpoint. The lead cop wanted me to open all my doors and step out of the vehicle. I told him they weren't searching my vehicle. One cop then told me "this isn't a search, it's an inspection." *SIGH*
I am a survivor of the troubled teen industry and they used solitary confinement as punishment when someone tried to kill themselves. I personally was never put on this “precaution”, however I saw how it impacted my friends and peers and it was terrifying how their behaviors changed even after just a day. We were also 13-18 years old.
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ Christianity is often used as a tool to excuse and enable child abuse in the troubled teen industry. This is not appropriate, please go away.
I was too, were in a WWASP center?
i hope john oliver does a whole episode on the troubled teen industry soon
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ So, you obviously have nothing of relevance, or even remotely constructive, to add to the conversation. Got it. The utter uselessness of your comment has been noted. Thank you, and I would like to wish you an absolutely thoroughly mediocre rest of your day. 🤦🏻♂️😉
I was on suicide watch in jail for one week and it messed with my head bad. I mean I get it but isolation is the exact wrong thing to do to a depressed person. Let's stick you in a room with only your thoughts that don't ever stop. Great idea
“Solitary confinement is what makes our criminal justice system criminal” is so powerful.
solitary confinement makes our criminal justice system criminal*
The 1942 US Department of Agriculture video *Hemp for Victory* proves that "Marihuana" is not a dangerous threat to public safety. That is why the film was banned from history books and public broadcasts to this day to wage the "war on drugs" and turn millions of Americans from patriots into criminals. There is an official .gov link to the film from the US National Archives. It is also on several KZhead channels. But because popular media outlets never tell the American public about it, most Americans still have no idea that "Marihuana" legalization saved America and the world during World War II.
Thank you, John Oliver.
"Am i asking it wrong?"😂😂
I’m so proud that this show actually reached out and interviewed survivors about their experiences and got the facts before doing this segment 🎉 thank you for recognizing us survivors
l put my hamster in a sock and slammed it against the furniture.
@@TippyHippy cool story bro, u wanna cookie or somethin?
@@TippyHippy Are you gonna eat that?
I don't think they did the interviews but they certainly did their research.
It never ceases to amaze how John Oliver can discuss such serious issues while simultaneously making me laugh.
Spoonfuls of sugar
Bhaaaaaa
I didn't laugh once. Tbh: I found the jokes misplaced in regard to the topic. Not everything needs to _(or should)_ be "lightened up" with humour.
That’s the art of satire. John Oliver is great in his comedic timing.
I mean, it's not that complicated, it's pretty formulaic. It hasn't changed since the show began. Not saying I don't find it entertaining too, and there are some significant kernels of truth in there, but... yes, John has a very calculated and effective formula.
So proud of the arguments your team builds, they are truly powerful.
I got depression as a teenager just from being isolated during the summer holidays on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I still saw my family but not my friends and that was enough. I cannot imagine how bad it would've been to be locked in a box instead. I am so sorry to everyone that experienced this.
the juvenile detention part legitimately made me cry. i was put in solitary so many times as a kid
I'm so sorry. That terrible.
Hugs from fellow solitary survivor.
How can they do this. To children
@@shaec3405 The staff at these facilities don't see the youth's as kids. I was told once "Your childhood is over, you're a criminal now get used to it."
@@crimsonsica
If we have a society without empathy, we can get normal people to agree to horrendous acts, without caring or understanding what those decisions could mean for another human. A classic "it will never happen to me, because I'm good. It happened to them, because they're bad."
Yep. I've never hurt anyone and they stole my life. I went in for mushrooms (in a state where mushrooms will soon be decriminalized) and got solitary because I caught H1M1. I was a very successful performer before solitary, but I haven't been on stage in the 13yr since. And the worst part is, my wife and my therapist are the only people in my life who ever said I didn't deserve that. Everyone else has told me I deserved it. Even the hypocrtes who have eaten mushrooms themselves. Humanity is horrendous.
I wonder how far our Democracy would get if we had a third Party running called "The Empathy Party"? It's very sad indeed.
@@stryderthejester I know this must've been really bad for you, and I don't wwant to belittle what you've been through....but... I just can't resist saying solitary confinement in a tiny cell must be really bad because there's NOT MUSH ROOM INSIDE!!! Sorry. I'm leaving.
@@stryderthejester Well, you didn't deserve that. That's the most ridiculous bullshit. You didn't deserve to have your life ruined over a drug that should be legal anyway, or to be literally tortured for getting sick (WTF?)
@@stryderthejester we are in the dvapara yuga for sure.
I hope we someday really try to figure out the factors that lead to criminality and focus on reversing those factors rather than focusing on torturing human beings in the hope of frightening other people away from crime.
We know. Those things have been studied for ages and many countries already have implemented way better methods to address those
Calling solitary confinement "punitive segregation" is a prime example of double speak.
I was 9 years old the 1st time that I was put in solitary. The bad part is that they strapped me down to a bed/metal table. Luckily, I was only strapped down 16 hours a day, though, bc that was their legal limit. This was for walking into somebody's room that was walking with me while we talked. I didn't even notice that I did it, and it was my 1st offense in that facility. America, god shed his grace on thee.
I'm so sorry this happened to you
@Ola P. thanks. This episode helped connect some dots for me, but a lot of feelings and memories just came flooding forward that I thought I dealt with. I'm 39 and can still feel it like I'm there now.
Was this a residential facility, mental healthcare facility, or a juvenile corrections facility?
i have so many questions, this makes no sense at all.
@@good-tn9sr questions are good. No one can be sure that a stranger tells the truth on the internet. If you want a dive in the troubled teen industry, google is your friend. You can look up the infamous Elan School, they had kids as young as eight. They also used solitary confinement, the term they used was "The Hole". It was a terrible place, rightfully closed in 2011.
Allow me to share my own story... Seven years ago I was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana with intent to sell. I was ordered to serve 30 days, but due to being enrolled in college on the GI bill, I was allowed to serve only on weekends. However, due to not being there permanently I spent almost all of that sentence in solitary "for my safety, because GenPop would eat me alive". The lights were permanently on. I was surrounded by other people that often made the same noises as we saw at 6:35. One weekend, I asked to bring my textbooks in with me in order to study for an exam; they were instead confiscated on entry. Nothing about that sentence was constructive; in retrospect, it set me farther back in life.
But can I get a bag?
@@FrankBenlin I wasn't even selling, I just had an Oz on me
@@DBurnsTTV Yes, it is is very scary what can happen for a nonviolent victimless "crime." Sorry you went through that, for that.
I kinda like your tale because it's what I want from prisons - I want you to hate it, I want it to be so bad you'll make very very sure that everything you do is legal at all times
@@DanArnets1492 you aim to make society worse, more afraid, our inmates more likely to reoffend instead of getting the help they need. And for what? Some vauge sense of just punishment?
I’m an autistic person who generally likes to be alone, and I know that being isolated for even 2 weeks can be damaging to a person. It’s even more damaging if the person does not have anything to do to occupy the time. No one can operate as the island, so it is important to not expect that from anyone.
Also, interesting that people were sent to solitary for not wearing the right shoes because my secondary school used to do the same thing. It was called the 'Isolation Block' and you could be sent for having the wrong shoes. In there you were in a cubical, not allowed to talk to anyone and had specific times to go for lunch so you didn't interact with anyone else
As a former female inmate, I was once put in solitary confinement because I interpreted the CO's tv time to get in my cell to use my toilet. I had already been in for 15 days for the quarantine period, had just gotten out of that the same day and he locked me in again for 48 more hours. He has been fired since this for having relations with female inmates now
Oh you meant "Raping" inmates right? I do not believe the inmate are willing, probably coerced or forced to do it.
It's all about power. It's sad how fragile these wardens and correctional facility people are.
@don't be stupid In a place that will actually help them fix whatever went wrong in their head. Torturing people doesn't fix anything. It just creates more issues.
@don't be stupid , I'm not sure I need to go to understand how prison works, and there are studies out there about extreme isolation, it don't work
@don't be stupid If a person tries to "take advantage" of mental health improvements, I'd applaud them. That's why they exist. Tobe used. Too many people don't, which leads to what we have today: a mentally ill society that aims for vengeance, ruthlessness and abuse rather than compassion, empathy and understanding. And I don't believe in "evil" any more than I believe in "holy". There are things that can be beneficial or detrimental, but nothing is ever as clear cut as "good/bad" "light/dark" "holy/evil" ect. The world isn't that simple.
In 2006, the local police department in Wisconsin wanted me to lie for them to convict someone but I refused so they held me in a freezing cold solitary confinement cell for 8 days without a shower or toothbrush and wouldn’t even let me call a lawyer. Then they finally let me go by just opening the doors and telling me to go. No paperwork, no proof it ever even happened… I was never arrested for anything and I’ve still got no criminal record. I’m an elementary school teacher. And yet they did that to me.
I hope you called a lawyer anyway
Our entire "justice" system needs to be torn down. Cops, judges, state attorneys, PDs, they're all corrupt
It's atrocious that they were even allowed to do that. I hope you're doing okay now.
Fascist behavior
OMG. You need justice for that. I hope you find it 😭
Thank you John for fighting the good fight throughout the years ❤
Thank GOD I left USA with family about 1 year ago. Thank GOD there is John Oliver, that reminds me once in a while to never step foot there again.
Standing up for prisoners' rights is not a popular position in the best of times, I can't tell you how much I appreciate episodes like these. Human rights means rights for ALL humans. Much love to you and the team that put this episode together.
💯
Child Rapists deserve the torture of solitary confinement.
Even someone who rapes your daughter or kills your parents?
@@squibbelsmcjohnson Wow, that's a well thought out argument there...
even if you don't think of the prisoners the first thing dictators do is remove all rights for criminals then they can take you in for anything
My dad is in prison. He robbed banks. A couple of years ago, he asked a guard in passing where his book order was. Some other prisoners thought that he was snitching on them so they threatened my dad and tried to cut his ear off. Because he was involved at all, he was sent to solitary confinement for “his protection” until he got transferred. Took them 8 months to transfer him. No phone calls but once a month. No books. Can write a letter every once in a while. No shaving even. This was during COVID too. It wrecked me. The amount of trauma that comes with just dealing with the fucking system is ruthless. I understand he did wrong, but to be treated like an animal is fucked.
Banks suck and your dad is based. Sorry that happened to him.
The crazy part to me is he’ll get the book thrown at him but a sexual predator will get 5 years on their 3rd offense. Wild stuff
We're kind of glossing over the fact that your dad committed armed robbery against people working at the banks (who were also traumatized) and stole from not only the banks, but people who had accounts there. He put money over his life, his safety, and being present in your life as a father. My sympathy is for you, but not your father.
can't imagine what solitary confinement would do to me but I'm pretty sure that I'd be fucked if a random guy point a gun at me while I'm at the bank. it's hard to feel sympathy for people who have no mercy or even care about anything but money. I wouldn't care less what happens to people who go to jail for violent crimes. eye for an eye
@@drewbles22 she wasn’t asking for your sympathy and your response completely misses the entire point she was conveying.
I love John Oliver.
All of these stories in the comments are heartbreaking, I hope you are all able to heal and feel happy and content
I worked at adult jails, and juvenile detention centers. We had far more juvies in solitary than adults. It must be hard on adults - but on 10 - 14 year olds? The system is totally insane. Of course to get put in solitary would take something as "major" as... anything that pisses off a guard. I only made it 4 years working there. To last any longer you have to turn off any semblance of humanity or compassion. I got along better with the inmates than I did with most of my coworkers.
10 year olds? What the actual fuck? What sick fuck puts little children into prisons?
I can easily imagine that. I think there's a similar pattern to any place that badly mistreats its inmates: you can't really think welll of anybody who treads people like that without protest, and the staff often mentally survives by telling themselves that it's necessary, it wouldn't be allowed if it was bad, "just doing an unpleasant job and following orders" ... and anybody who questions (& thereby endangers) that skimpy defense and will draw an awful lot of hostility. Have you ever contacted any human rights or prisoners rights group?
So what are you doing to help? Anything?
@@nancymunlyn what are you doing to help? besides hassling people
@@theteob689 I volunteered twice a week for four hours each night teaching a GED class at the prison I worked at during the day. I did that for three years and helped a little over two dozen felons get their GEDs so when they got out they'd have better chances of staying out. That's what I've done to help. You?
i’m kinda surprised he didn’t talk about kalief browder here bc that is something i think of as a *prime* example of just how badly solitary confinement can mess someone up. he developed serious psychosis after being in solitary confinement a total of 700 days in around 3 years. it’s so fucking impressive to hear the inmates and former inmates be so composed and articulate talking about being in solitary confinement, especially the one in there for 18 years holy shit.
Me, too. Maybe they spoke to the family and they didn´t want them to talk about it. There is apparently enough evidence out there beside Kalief´s case.
I was hoping as well. An absolute tragedy
Composed and articulate after multiple years out of the hole. Behind his barely held together public facing is a completely broken man struggling to even live a single normal day again.
He dith talk about it on an other episode where he also mentioned it that they wanted to talk about it in an earlier episode but didn't because Kalief Bowder killed himself that week.
Solitary confinement is like a luxury vacation, except without the sun, the beach, the pool, the spa, the room service, or any chance of ever leaving... actually, maybe it's nothing like a luxury vacation after all.
I only did 10 days and I will never be the same human. Even 10 days. It does something to your head that can't be undone.
One County Jail I was in gave me access to the library and six books a week. Another pact five men into a two-man cell, lockdown 24/7 and when I came out I had to go to a psychiatric unit! I plead guilty to a charge I was innocent of just to get the hell out!
I was once in solitary confinement for 6 moths. It was a horrifying experience that I wish on no one. The mental anguish is something I will never forget.
I'm sorry for your experience. **Hugs**
Thanks for sharing your experience man. We're lost if we don't talk about this kinda stuff.
Having been there, does it serve as effective motivation to modify behavior?
@@Chad_Thundercock Let's put it this way. We've known, for ages, that you can modify people's behavior if you threaten them, or torture them. Hell, you do that well enough and most people will do whatever the fuck you want them to. The real question is, if that is the extent you are willing to go to to "modify someone's behavior" then how are you any different or better than the people that we think of as the *absolute worst* criminals.
@@gsgaming6976 Either way, this is a prime opportunity to gather data direct from the source. Data we can use to better refine our perspective, regardless of how well or poorly it matches our preformed opinion.
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky
yes. Imagine having movie, theaters and swimming pools, and a nice star on your shoulder and getting payed for your work.
So Sweden beats us again but we beat a whole lot of other countries. As bad as our system is, Russia China & North korea make our prisons look good
Also, its Walmarts.
@@Liberum69 lol
Another exceptional piece, thank you John!
As always, Outstanding job. Thank you.
When I got a letter from a girlfriend who was in prison for a DUI and read that she was placed in solitary confinement for confiding in her counselor that she was depressed after a few months of her sentence, I was in disbelief and absolutely appalled. Thank you for bringing a spotlight onto this issue.
I immediately starting crying listening to Anthony Graves testify. I can’t imagine the pain he went through and is still suffering from.
I went from 0-to-ugly-cry in an instant. What a failure we are as a society, I am so angry
Just agonizingly brutal.
I've done the best willing equivalent of solitary confinement to myself for 48 hours in a bathroom as a mental test and that shit is rough. I knew I could leave at anytime though, just pushed myself to test my mental fortitude. If I did that for a week, I would go crazy. 18 years, Idk how that man is alive.
His voice, goddamn.
You poor child.
didn't learn the Quaker bit in my criminal justice student days- hope this topic gets the ' john oliver effect' towards change. Point-in-case just donated to the ACLU.
Writing this while listening to the intro. I know this will be gold, even before I watch it.
I'm an ex-con. I only did 38 months, but it was in a terrible Michigan prison nick named "Gladiator School" This episode genuinely broke my heart and nearly brought me to tears.
@Aluzky Is that really important at all? Unless he's a Sex Offender on a registry; that's private info your asking from a stranger.
@Aluzky jay walking
@@ariloulei814 It's weird that being a sex offender should be considered worse than being a murderer. Apparently having pornographic pictures of children you've never met is worse than actually murdering them.
@@OC-CPA nobody said that being a sex offender is worse than a child murderer. both of those things can be bad and are indeed bad. this is a really weird response to a really simple statement
@@913kaixa You missed my point. @ariloulei814 said that unless OP's criminal history involved being a sex offender, it's irrelevant now. So having kiddie porn or even publicly urinating would be relevant, but violently assaulting someone-maybe even committing murder-would be irrelevant. That doesn't make any sense to me.
Hello, Mr. Oliver. I have experience with solitary confinement, having spent all of my pre-trial lockup in such conditions. Yes, the cell was very small but it was also made of 100% concrete. The "bed" was just a concrete slab with no mattress or other padding. It was like a cave, though a cave will still give you a view of the outside world. The lights were on 24/7. I had no clothes; my clothing was replaced by a long burlap bag with holes for my head and arms. Fortunately there was a toilet. I never did find out exactly why I was in solitary from the get go although I suspect that it was due to the recommendation of the prison shrink who, for some reason known only to himself, had decided that I should be on suicide watch. I might have had a sliver of forgiveness for that asshole if I had had the chance to speak to the bozo for at least a standard 50min psychiatric hour. But he kept his thoughts to himself. Suicide? Over a misdemeanour and with no criminal record? Any suicidal thoughts I might have developed would have been created by the confinement itself. A bear in a zoo would have had a more natural environment in which it was imprisoned. Did this take place in Iraq, Peru, China or maybe Russia? No. It took place in Canada, a country with a very effective PR campaign. A "nice" country? Screw that!
Well hey man, now the Canadian government will just help you kill yourself. Progress, right?
I'm sorry you went through that. You are not alone.
@@youtubegarbage7876 What difference does it make if a prisoner is guilty or innocent? If you are torturing people, you are torturing them; it is not justified and, in fact, it's generally understood to be a crime.
suicide watch is fucking brutal
@@cblsei've seen the person you're replying to in several other people's personal stories of torture and i think the pattern is really interesting. This OP said they were awaiting trial for a misdemeanor, they yell "but were you innocent" (and like their own post lmao). Someone else mentions bounced checks and they yell the same thing. Someone else doesn't say at all, and they yell it. It seems to me like there is no crime to small for this person to want to torture others over. Kinda feels like it says something about the people arguing for it even after knowing what it entails. They don't actually care about anything but making sure there's someone they're allowed to torture
Good story John. I would agree, just thinking about being put in a box gives me anxiety, I am so claustrophobic!! It would 100% make the issue worse. I just keep thinking of that video of a close village where (whether its true or not) when you do wrong you are surrounded by your peers and they say positive things about you. That would certainly make a person feel better, and then having those people to know you can talk with and help get guidance for the right things. You definitely have to have an outlet for the pain and someone to help you understand and make sense of things. Therapy groups are necessary I would think especially in situations where people have already gone overboard for some reason and found themselves in jail. Peace to you all. 🙏
Thank you for another great video mate. I enjoyed every second. Please keep it coming.
I also want to add that reading through the comments is absolutely heartbreaking, my compassion and love goes out to all of you who have suffered in the "justice" system.
I'd like to absolutely second that heartfelt emotion. Jesus, Christ.
I've spent long periods of time where I get little to no sleep, and when the inmate testifying mentioned how little he slept it hit me hard. When you barely sleep every day for weeks on end you literally loose your mind, start hallucinating and seeing double, loose motor control, get sick really easily, develop anxiety and depression, the list goes on and on. Purposefully putting anyone in a state of existence like that is unacceptable.
Finally it's here the clip you all wanted. kzhead.info/sun/qa2AfLiuaYtqYI0/bejne.html..
Hey I been there man. Major sleep deprivation was the worst thing Ive ever experienced. Its legit painful. My brain felt like it turned to mush and was being deep fried. I hope you've gotten some rest.
Yes. Purposefully doing that is literal torture.
Not sure why you’re comparing yourself to criminals, that’s wrong.
basing public policy off of the experience of one person is unacceptable.
Maybe if I had one single friend, I wouldn't hate you so much. Thanks. I needed that.
Even my dog needs room to run around and toys to play with.
THANK YOU JOHN AND YOUR TEAM AT LWT. This is gonna sound crazy, but THIS HAPPENS IN MENTAL HEALTHCARE TOO. When I was 14 to 15 I was hospitalized 3 times for anxiety and depression in New York mental institutions due to personal tragedies. My abuser was in charge of my care and he told them to keep me there as long as possible. I may have had doctors, but there was no one around who would treat me like a person. I would be locked in my room with people who tried to hurt me or I was alone for hours and hours. NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THE SCREAMING. I had visitation with my abuser for 1 hour a day. Please, for the love of God, make sure these facilities cease functioning like this. It does more harm than good. I can't tell you how many kids I saw needle sedated and strapped down for unjustified reasons, or recalled being sexually assaulted and leaving in a worse state than they came in. I even had a nurse hit me while I was sedated in my bed. Please talk about this. Please listen to the kids. Its nowhere as extreme as these barbaric prisons, but the nightmares don't go away. No one believes you, and no one relates.
I believe you.
Because crazy ppl are crazy & make stories up. There is no fair life for the mentally ill in this world. It’ll always continue because not enough people care or want someone else to fix it for them. Understaffing in facilities is a big part of it, so they’ll keep the bad, twisted employees because there’s no one to cover the shift
Thank you for sharing your painful story. You're right, we must not stop talking about this until it stops.
I believe you. Thank you for sharing your story, that took a lot of courage.
I remember a guy was in solitary confinement for over 2 years WAITING for his trial. He was forgotten in there. When they realized it, they released him, he sued, got a few million, and I think died within the year because he was diagnosed with cancer...
That is heartbreaking. 😭
The way he roasted those guys at the beginning 🤣🤣🤣
9:05 best part by far, thank you John!
Solitary confinement is the surest path to achieve the exact opposite of rehabilitation. Just as unused muscles atrophy, so too do social skills. So our reliance on it reinforces the fact that our justice system is fundamentally punitive and not restorative.
Prisons don't rehabilitate. They lack proper food, mental health support, educational programs, and recreation to keep idle hands/ minds occupied.
Two years of isolation during the lock-downs was enough to fuck up countless people living alone. A lot if lost when you aren’t be around others, even with the internet.
Muscles don’t atrophy you exercise a lot for entertainment. I preferred solitary to being shanked. This episode was done a little one sided, they should have interviewed more prisoners who preferred it.
@@nopenope5042 You missed the point man.
@@nopenope5042 "This report on torture is one-sided, why not show some interviews with people who enjoy being waterboarded?"
Back in 2003 my dad attacked me and my mom attempting to kill us both, he had been going to the police station for about 2 months grooming them that his family was evil and he was this poor 6'2 man who could stop the evil from his 4'12 wife and 5'5 child. Had me arrested. I was put in "C Status" immediately when I went to jury. Had never been in trouble before and was not suicidal. But C Status is where they lock you in your cell, no pillow, no blanket, no clothes just a thick life vest that you are not allowed to take off and does not cover anything but a small portion of you torso. I spend over a week in that shit as a child. All the charges were dropped, my parents got a divorced and I did not speak to my dad ever again. Explain the necessity of stripping a child down naked giving them a short life jacket and keeping them in a room for over a week.
Hmm. If someone had come to me telling me his wife and child were evil, I'd be looking at him really hard. ...Psychological projection is a helluva drug.
this is completely fucked up! who the hell comes up with such practices? who greenlit this shit? I'm not religious yet I still hope that all involved burn in hell.
I have no words after reading this. There is no reason for this. EVER.
Your dad should just be grateful you did not come back and kill his ass.
“His 4’12” wife” So… his 5’ wife.
A person in Texas was held in solitary confinement for 27 years, he sued over it saying it violated the 8th amendment against cruel and unusual punishment and a texas judge said it didn't and scotus declined to hear the case. If 27 years alone in a concrete bathroom isn't cruel and unusual punishment I don't know what is.
I would also point out that this is the US. State insurance programs, support programs etc. are nearly non-existent. That one guy who said his therapist was crying more than him was probably one of the lucky ones--most probably can't even afford a therapist when they get out!