California lawmakers should be held accountable for gutting solitary confinement reforms

There is an ancient saying in politics that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

It appears that Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken this motto to heart when it comes to the issue of solitary confinement in California. Despite his supposed commitments to criminal justice reform, Newsom has demonstrated a callous disregard for the dark history of this problem in our state, and even undermined prospects for true reform.

I am a survivor of solitary confinement. I spent decades in isolation at the notorious Pelican Bay State Prison, not far from the Oregon border.

There are few forms of torture worse for the human soul than isolation. Solitary confinement is used to break people, and many who are exposed to it suffer permanent harms. It has been found to be damaging to the body, and the mind, and ultimately results in broader societal harms that have been documented.

That is why solitary survivors like myself have been advocating for this issue for more than a decade, dating back to the massive prison hunger strikes in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Our organizing and advocacy efforts helped expose the long history of solitary confinement in California, and resulted in the landmark Ashker legal settlement that imposed new restrictions.

But the fight was not over.

While California inched forward, many other states took significant steps. The best example is New York, where the HALT Act abolished the use of solitary confinement for specific populations. The law also provided trauma-informed alternatives that help reduce violence and aid rehabilitation. 

Two years ago, inspired by New York and other states, the California Mandela Campaign formed as a coalition of advocates, solitary survivors and civil rights organizations. In partnership with Assemblymember Chris Holden, the California Mandela Act was introduced, aiming to place clear limits on the use of solitary confinement — consistent with international standards — and emulate effective policies from other states.

The bill included a 15-day limit on the use of solitary and a complete ban on the practice for specific populations, such as pregnant people and the elderly. 

Despite receiving broad support in the Legislature, Newsom killed the California Mandela Act twice — once with a veto and the second time this year, before it even reached his desk. 

While Newsom blocked Assembly Bill 280, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which he oversees, was quietly gutting AB 2527, a separate reform by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. AB 2527 originally started out as a bill to ban the use of solitary confinement against pregnant people in jails and prisons. Just days before it was amended, she told Politico that, “To be pregnant, to remain healthy, I really, truly believe that restrictive housing shouldn’t be a part of the equation.”

However, solitary confinement was added to the equation in the form of 11th hour amendments that took place in the Senate Appropriations Committee, with no debate or transparency. The bill changed from protecting pregnant people in jails and prisons, to only covering people in CDCR custody, which by some estimates is less than 10 people. Shockingly, the amendments included a loophole that said that CDCR could unilaterally choose to place a pregnant person in solitary for five days if there is a security concern.

To be clear, that means that CDCR can place a pregnant person in solitary confinement if they are threatened by someone else. There is no requirement for consent. No oversight by a medical provider. No process for documentation, appeals or due process. Nothing in the bill prevents someone from being cycled in and out of solitary after a five-day limit.

Seemingly overnight, the bill went from an abolition of solitary to carte blanche for CDCR. 

A coalition of advocates, including myself, met with Bauer-Kahan’s offices and reiterated that the amendments moved California backward on an issue that should be simple. One staffer told us that the “community does not have power” on this issue.

This is the sentiment we face. But that’s not true. 

In the short time since AB 2527 was quietly amended, people have organized and mobilized. A letter of opposition with more than 60 organizations has been circulated to the governor, and continues to get longer. Solitary survivors who were isolated while pregnant have spoken out. One of the main sponsors of AB 2527 also withdrew support and issued a sharp rebuke.

Newsom and the legislature will not dishearten us with backroom deals or the facade of reform. They should be held accountable for their policy choices and challenged for blocking real change.