For Men of Color Who Consider Suicide When The Hole Is Too Much By Lori Person Baynard

Tomorrow, June 20, 2019, the state of New Jersey will vote to decide whether to end solidarity confinement and severely limit its related abuses in the state. Solidarity confinement is also called 'the hole' temporary housing, aggregated segregation, and other names that end up meaning the same thing, a way to torture American citizens in their own country. While it is a human rights violation according to United Nations' Human Rights Watch to confine a person in this manner for more than 15 days before calling it torture, it remains a practice in New Jersey prisons and other states. Per capita, New Jersey, arrests and incarcerates more brown and black persons than any state in America. Men of color are also placed in the hole more frequently than white men. I had the opportunity to speak with a formally incarcerated man who spent 12 years in New Jersey State Prison before having his conviction of 34 years eventually overturned; he is currently a free man. The longest stint of time that he did in the hole was 180 days. That is six months, a half of a year spent in isolated confinement. While the man is sure that his official state records probably split the time between isolated confinement, administrative segregation and temporary housing for the sake of state records, the truth is that this man was tutored for half a year. One can go to the hole for infractions as serious as harming another inmate or as minimal as having Muslim oil, dinner from last night or a cigarette in your cell. Once you are in the hole, your family and friends may come for a visit and are not given any information about you; after all, you are a prisoner of the state. The state has your body, and the hole is designed to take your mind. You are put in a cell where you can touch all four walls at one time. You have a toilet and a sink, but you can only shower every three days. The conditions in the hole are designed to be unbearable. In the summer, there is no air; in the winter, the cell is cold enough to make you shiver, and the water does the same. The formally incarcerated man explained it this way, "I can't explain what it feels like to come from the cold outside, (when in solitary confinement you are allowed an hour of yard time alone) and then they put your cold body into a cold shower, and take your cold body back into the cell." The word torture came up in our dialogue again. When I asked, how does this affect your mind, he explained that you must have an exceptionally strong mind to tolerate the hole. "There are a lot of people who are mentally ill in there, and it is very hard for them. I have heard people crying out for 'help' for what seemed like days, and once they stop crying out, then you worry. A man might start eating his own feces after a while. Sometimes the feces get thrown around. Between the screams, the rodents and bugs running around, the smell of feces permeating throughout the small area of the cells, it has all of the makings of a horror movie." After all of that, there are no mental health professionals who talk to inmates; once they let you out of the hole, you go back to your cell as if nothing happened. You may not see the scars, but they are there." After listening to his story, I could easily discern, although he assured me that he was "alright" that he clearly was not. He had detached himself from the feelings of the experience. So tomorrow June 20th I will go to my state capital, wear red with all of the other organizations that have fought so hard to get this policy agenda before the governor and stand in solitary with those whose voices cannot be heard over the screams and the tears of torturous confinement. I will also stand with those people, organizations, and churches who care about "the least of these" who are being dehumanized and fight for change! We must end this state-sanctioned sin against humanity! Here are two action steps that the group Salvation and Social Justice is asking everyone to take who want to end "the hole." "Action Step #1 Show up! Assembly and Senate Voting Sessions are tomorrow, June 20, 2019! Location Assembly Floor; votes begin at noon, and the Senate starts at 2:00 pm. Location: NJ State House 125 West State Street, Trenton, NJ Point of contact: Alex Shalom (ACLU) 646-232-0174 (cell) Action Step #2 Send in an email to Amos at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. a list of all supportive organizations, congregations, or individuals. --Reverend Lori Person Baynard is a public policy advocate. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. twitter @ lbaynard