I was also 16 when I experienced 30 days of solitary confinement. I wonder how much of my brain atrophied in that time. I know it almost broke me completely. It was years before the habits I kept finally wore off. I still can't close doors in my house, close to 40 years later, among other things. You three are super heroes. Thank you for this documentary.
For us this film is very personal and dives deep into why we must end solitary confinement, I'm grateful to the @Newyorker for telling our stories of such pain. our stories aren't new or unheard of before and we the people have the power to change that. Thank you for taking the time to watch.
Solitary confiment has to change yes its fine for a couple of days but years go by and u are still in solitary co fiment it will make u crazy u have to be in general population at some point within tbe prison walls u have to know how to accept being there
Thanks for shining a light into the darkness. My husband was unjustly incarcerated in a federal prison. They are engineered to break the spirit. It takes tremendous strength to come out as a human after such inhumane treatment. Bravo to you all for this doc and for putting yourselves out here after the hell in there.
What an incredibly powerful and phenomenally depicted documentary. Can't believe the penitentiary system still thinks solitary confinement is both justifiable and helpful.
This is so horiffic. I've had family and friends go through it, and I can only imagine what they've gone through. What can be done by the average person to help end solitary confinement?
Its so insanely barbaric how does it teach any human being to become a better person? It's just a scam for the prison owners to profit off of tax money. It's literally just torture with no purpose.
Its how they take out their frustrations about the job. They enjoy doing it to people, that's why all you have to do is break tiny rules to get put in there.
The US prison system is the worst as far as modern prison systems go. It is purely punitive in most cases. Sure it's not like being locked up in Iraq, but is that really our standard? "Hey, sure we have an evil collapsing system we lock people in, but hey, we're not as bad as a third world country!"
Powerful, moving and disturbing. But I’m glad I watched this. It gives me new understanding of the levels of inhumanity and inhuman humans that wrongfully control aspects of life on this planet. Hopefully one day karma catches up with them all.
I did 33 days straight in solitary confinement. It was the worst experience of my life. I was 185 lbs when I went in . And I was 137 lbs when I got out.
I was in solitary confinement for 7 months for no reason other rhan overcrowding and i cant be the same vibrant and social person i was before afterwards
@@jonathanroselawthere are people who have been in "the hole" for many many years. It's usually punishment for fighting, having a cell phone, etc. Many times people end up in there for 6 months or a couple years for not even being violent. It's pretty barbaric. I think the US can do better. We're not North Korea.
My father was served a life sentence in a death row prison.. what he did was terrible and permanently life damaging. I still cannot wrap my mind around it.... But the worst part.. after 10 years, it did not seem to show him what he did was wrong. The supreme court denied him three times.. he spent 17 years in solitary confinement before he died.. I never even went to his funeral... Really.. i had no idea what type of prison he went to.. like i became a ward of the state when i was a child. I do believe solitary confinement should never be over used.. I am permenantly mentally and physically damaged for life.. I never really picked up on what became of everything.. I dont know whod understand really.. This video brought me to tears though.. I dont know if I'll ever be abke to wrap my head around it
Yeah so why do we still do this? I thought about it and theres no doubt in my mind if I was locked up in those conditions long enough I would probably kill the first person that looked at me the wrong way once I got out. Ive never even been arrested. Great job making violent criminals 100 times worse. If we can't get rid of solitary there needs to be one universal rubric that dictates exactly what lands you there and for how long. And the law should also explicitly require the inmate to be informed of those conditions the second they are placed there.
This reduces me to tears, and I challenge anyone who isn’t to *truly* empathise with this pointless, inhuman - and yet *oh so human* suffering. ‘Cruel and inhuman’ are the words in our justice system, but they are not applied.
Thus affects u when u get out and tbe memories u had in solitary coming mental hunt u into the life outside the prison walls u can't escape this its stuck with u
America. How are we living? What are we like? Do we love? Do we believe in redemption? Do we like to see people suffer? Do we torture? Can we do better...do we want to?
Of course they put her in the hole. Had the women who called for help learned first hand and all at once what happened to her, there would have been a rather large problem. Don't believe these people are incapable of compassion.
@@erdelegy If you want to. I was speaking literally. Cell blocks and entire floors of jails and prisons all across the United States are dedicated to what they call “segregated”. Dozens or hundreds of solitary confinement cells where inmates are routinely kept permanently with or without having committed any infractions, even pre-trial individuals who have not yet been convicted of any crime, are kept in these solitary cells for 23hrs per day. The other hour is usually spent in a slightly larger solitary holding cell with a shower, and if they’re lucky, a pay phone that costs their family members over $1/minute to speak with them. It’s torture, it’s unconstitutional, it’s cruel, it’s inhuman. That said, I’m usually down for tripped out analogies, so I won’t discourage you.
@@salutations5749 It’s certainly an apt name. I think a lot of people, if not most, associate “the hole” as an ostensibly temporary type of holding cell that someone may be sent to as punishment for some infraction. The horrible reality is that jails and prisons have resorted to placing inmates into solitary confinement cell blocks as permanent assignments, without any further justification or potential end date. It’s not acceptable as a punishment, and it’s downright criminal to inflict that sort of trauma on anyone permanently as standard day-to-day procedure. The sentence may ultimately come to an end, but the mental and emotional damage of long-term isolation will be forever.
Nah you have no idea. At least you can have a book, at least you can type on your phone. The hole in prison is just a brick/concrete box people are put into, trapped, with no stimulation of any kind. It's a recipe to make people go insane, like, clinically and truly. Then, when that guy gets out in 5, 10, 20 years, he's put back on the same streets as you and I, but forever changed. It's a recipie for disaster.
Well, you might have been able to say that years ago. Today no matter what prison you are in, every single prisoner is doing a stint in Solitary Confinement no matter what your sentence. Karma effects the few. Solitary effects them all.
I was also 16 when I experienced 30 days of solitary confinement. I wonder how much of my brain atrophied in that time. I know it almost broke me completely. It was years before the habits I kept finally wore off. I still can't close doors in my house, close to 40 years later, among other things.
You three are super heroes. Thank you for this documentary.
This is utterly devastating and incredibly powerful. Huge respect to those involved for sharing their stories.
Thank you
Sad realistic video
For us this film is very personal and dives deep into why we must end solitary confinement, I'm grateful to the @Newyorker for telling our stories of such pain. our stories aren't new or unheard of before and we the people have the power to change that. Thank you for taking the time to watch.
Solitary confiment has to change yes its fine for a couple of days but years go by and u are still in solitary co fiment it will make u crazy u have to be in general population at some point within tbe prison walls u have to know how to accept being there
This is not punishment, this is torture !
Indeed it is and we must never stop talking about it.
I agree.
It's not torture, ok, it's not a bed of roses, but it's not torture
It's not torture, don't exaggerate. I can be in solitary confinement, easy peasy. With books too? Even easier.
@@BillSikes. Agreed
the stories are heart wrenching and the cinematography is out of this world.
This was a really thoughtful, humanizing piece on solitary confinement. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank You
Thanks for shining a light into the darkness. My husband was unjustly incarcerated in a federal prison. They are engineered to break the spirit. It takes tremendous strength to come out as a human after such inhumane treatment. Bravo to you all for this doc and for putting yourselves out here after the hell in there.
Thank you for watching.
What an incredibly powerful and phenomenally depicted documentary. Can't believe the penitentiary system still thinks solitary confinement is both justifiable and helpful.
Stunning and so brave of you all to tell of this place.
I just cannot grasp how they did that to her and her baby. So devastating. :(
Thank for this documentary, it was beautiful and important. I'm crying but I'm glad I watched it.
Thank You for taking the time to understand.
This is so beautifully done
This is litterally torture and should be illegal
Rest in peace legal system.
This is so horiffic. I've had family and friends go through it, and I can only imagine what they've gone through. What can be done by the average person to help end solitary confinement?
Don't ever stop talking about it...ever!
This was edited together so great. Wow
Thank you for sharing, that is curle of torture
Its so insanely barbaric how does it teach any human being to become a better person? It's just a scam for the prison owners to profit off of tax money. It's literally just torture with no purpose.
Its how they take out their frustrations about the job. They enjoy doing it to people, that's why all you have to do is break tiny rules to get put in there.
A year late to be explaining this, its just simply revenge because we think it makes us smarter when in reality its all a joke/delusion
The US prison system is the worst as far as modern prison systems go. It is purely punitive in most cases. Sure it's not like being locked up in Iraq, but is that really our standard? "Hey, sure we have an evil collapsing system we lock people in, but hey, we're not as bad as a third world country!"
Well made, deserves more views
The things people do to each other. We are the devil.
This is a very powerful account, giving us a glimpse of what it must be like. I don't think i could do it. Thank you.
Powerful, moving and disturbing. But I’m glad I watched this. It gives me new understanding of the levels of inhumanity and inhuman humans that wrongfully control aspects of life on this planet. Hopefully one day karma catches up with them all.
Thank you for watching
its quite traumatic to watch this.
They have to limit the time u spend in solitary confinement they have to change this
I did 33 days straight in solitary confinement. It was the worst experience of my life. I was 185 lbs when I went in . And I was 137 lbs when I got out.
I was in solitary confinement for 7 months for no reason other rhan overcrowding and i cant be the same vibrant and social person i was before afterwards
Solitary confinement is torture and should be illegal. No one deserves this.
It still exists this day and it will continue until we stop it.
Lock em up and throw away the key.
@@jonathanroselaw They are already doing that via rotational solitary confinement for all prisoners in the US. Or, haven't you heard?
@@HiddenandDeprived Actually no I haven’t heard of that. Please tell me more.
@@jonathanroselawthere are people who have been in "the hole" for many many years. It's usually punishment for fighting, having a cell phone, etc. Many times people end up in there for 6 months or a couple years for not even being violent. It's pretty barbaric. I think the US can do better. We're not North Korea.
My father was served a life sentence in a death row prison.. what he did was terrible and permanently life damaging. I still cannot wrap my mind around it.... But the worst part.. after 10 years, it did not seem to show him what he did was wrong. The supreme court denied him three times.. he spent 17 years in solitary confinement before he died.. I never even went to his funeral... Really.. i had no idea what type of prison he went to.. like i became a ward of the state when i was a child.
I do believe solitary confinement should never be over used..
I am permenantly mentally and physically damaged for life.. I never really picked up on what became of everything.. I dont know whod understand really..
This video brought me to tears though.. I dont know if I'll ever be abke to wrap my head around it
Thanks for this ... County jails do this too here in California. Brutal
Yes, and Gavin Newsom declined to change all that when he had a chance.
County jails do it here in ny too. You'd figure we lived in the more enlightened states but nope
Yeah so why do we still do this? I thought about it and theres no doubt in my mind if I was locked up in those conditions long enough I would probably kill the first person that looked at me the wrong way once I got out. Ive never even been arrested. Great job making violent criminals 100 times worse. If we can't get rid of solitary there needs to be one universal rubric that dictates exactly what lands you there and for how long. And the law should also explicitly require the inmate to be informed of those conditions the second they are placed there.
I don't know about what you said, but definite prison reform is needed NOW!
Sincere question, how do we help create prison reform and stop solitary confinement? There has to be steps of action.
This reduces me to tears, and I challenge anyone who isn’t to *truly* empathise with this pointless, inhuman - and yet *oh so human* suffering.
‘Cruel and inhuman’ are the words in our justice system, but they are not applied.
Powerful, tragic and barbaric.
Will add my comments on topic I know well from direct “hellish” experience.
Wow, I'm spechless, it was to much!
Powerful indeed
7:06 true human nature
So identifying.
This is how animals feel in the zoo
Because you’re not living. Its just existing
Thanku for this video it's what happens in life when u go down the wrong track
I am a strong advocate for law and order, but this is completely unacceptable to do to anyone. There has to be a better way.
That solitary was torture and a lot of the guards get off on controlling you
This would be my worst nightmare 😩😔
I watch this video so often. It's one of the best videos I have ever seen.
Thus affects u when u get out and tbe memories u had in solitary coming mental hunt u into the life outside the prison walls u can't escape this its stuck with u
Punishment needs to be fair and just. Solitary confinement for minor infraction is unjustifiable and cruel.
America. How are we living? What are we like? Do we love? Do we believe in redemption? Do we like to see people suffer? Do we torture? Can we do better...do we want to?
This is heart breaking. I understand the thought behind it but I don’t agree with it totally. It’s not okay
The most awful thing ever. It’s inhumane on every level
Bad things happen to people. Very bad things...
Or self isolation . Sucks ...
The nightmares!!!!!
This is light inro the darkness
Barbaric
That have tochange this
🌎👍❤.
Why dont we hear what they are in for
Of course they put her in the hole. Had the women who called for help learned first hand and all at once what happened to her, there would have been a rather large problem. Don't believe these people are incapable of compassion.
Dennis did 27 years. What are men like these really made up of?
🙀
Calling it “the box” suggests one of something. There are entire blocks full of “boxes”. Let’s refer to it as “a box”.
@@erdelegy If you want to. I was speaking literally. Cell blocks and entire floors of jails and prisons all across the United States are dedicated to what they call “segregated”. Dozens or hundreds of solitary confinement cells where inmates are routinely kept permanently with or without having committed any infractions, even pre-trial individuals who have not yet been convicted of any crime, are kept in these solitary cells for 23hrs per day. The other hour is usually spent in a slightly larger solitary holding cell with a shower, and if they’re lucky, a pay phone that costs their family members over $1/minute to speak with them. It’s torture, it’s unconstitutional, it’s cruel, it’s inhuman.
That said, I’m usually down for tripped out analogies, so I won’t discourage you.
"The Hole", as it was referred to by someone i knew who spent time in Prison.
@@salutations5749 It’s certainly an apt name. I think a lot of people, if not most, associate “the hole” as an ostensibly temporary type of holding cell that someone may be sent to as punishment for some infraction. The horrible reality is that jails and prisons have resorted to placing inmates into solitary confinement cell blocks as permanent assignments, without any further justification or potential end date. It’s not acceptable as a punishment, and it’s downright criminal to inflict that sort of trauma on anyone permanently as standard day-to-day procedure. The sentence may ultimately come to an end, but the mental and emotional damage of long-term isolation will be forever.
@@silverXnoise Agree with your sentiment. Thats what they called it.
Exactly
b roll is kinda.... unnecessary
The two reasons prisoners don't like solitary confinement are it forces introspection and it prevents their predation.
This is one of the stupidest comments I've ever seen
@@kayjay3257 Though my comment is logically correct and technically irrefutable, you provide no novel substantive argument against it.
If I have to see this preview commercial one more time. I’ll never buy this product because their adversaries are so off putting.
Capitalism has become FAR WORSE than solitary confinement. These prisoner are literally given a SAFE SPACE and FREE RENT.
Nah you have no idea. At least you can have a book, at least you can type on your phone. The hole in prison is just a brick/concrete box people are put into, trapped, with no stimulation of any kind. It's a recipe to make people go insane, like, clinically and truly. Then, when that guy gets out in 5, 10, 20 years, he's put back on the same streets as you and I, but forever changed. It's a recipie for disaster.
Priaon is enough. Solitary should be banned.
Solitary ain’t that bad lol just gotta accept you can’t leave that cell
You've never been locked up, punk.
Yea u obviously ain't been there...
Can’t do the time don’t do the crime. Period
Karma 🖖
Well, you might have been able to say that years ago. Today no matter what prison you are in, every single prisoner is doing a stint in Solitary Confinement no matter what your sentence. Karma effects the few. Solitary effects them all.
Were it not for the reality of wrongful imprisonment. And that we as a society agreed to incarcerate, not torture.
Who is own newyorker? Indonesian/american? Haha...