Interview with Inmate Bobby Ray Gilbert, Concerning Solitary Confinement Cells

Throughout our nations prison system there is another type of prison inside the prison called solitary confinement. Different states have different names for it, Administration Segregation, or ADSG, disciplinary units, and "the hole," are some of the terms used for these high security cells.

These cells were once used to hold, sex offenders, and state witnesses, to insure they were being protected from the rest of the inmate population. They are sometimes used as a disciplinary method, to punish the inmate for something he has done wrong.

Prison reformists, and advocates claim these cells are a form of cruel and unusual punishment. The inmate is alone, without other human contact for months, years and sometimes decades.

Other issues of concern are the size of the cells, sleep deprivation, inadequate hygiene, inadequate recreation and excersize, mental and physical abuse, the high number of suicides, and improper clothing.

Some of the effects of being in a solitary confinement cell are extreme anxiety, use of drug addicting medications, physical deterioration which can cause diseases and other medical conditions, the inability to think rationally, extreme anger, resentment, hate, violent behavior, and suicidal tendencies.

I interviewed an inmate in the Holman Unit in Alabama, Bobby Ray Gilbert. He has spent quite some time in solitary confinement. Here is his views on these cells.

Bobby, what were you convicted of and what was your sentence?

I was convicted of murder in 1965 after killing a man in an alteration over money he owed me. I was 18 years old. I was sentenced to life, but given a 10 year parole date. Then I killed another inmate because he made the mistake of thinking all young, white guys were weak. He tried to beat me out of my money, and he didn't quite get to keep it.

I was given life without parole for that. Throw in 3 more assaults and an escape, and a couple of knives and my prison term is somewhere around 600 years. I don't believe I'm going to make it that long. I've been in prison for 22 years, 7 months. I doubt that I have another 22 left in me.

How do you spend your time in prison?

I spend my time pacing the floor for the most part, as the Warden of this prison doesn't want inmates to have anything constructive to do. I occasionally do a little artwork with pencil. I write a few poems. I listen to the radio, and some days I workout. That's pretty much it.

Do you receive visits? What are they like?

Yes, I get visits occasionally from my mother and little sister. Usually 3 or 4 visits a year because of the distance they have to travel, and the expense.

The visits are very stressful and frustrating at this particular prison. If only one thing could be changed at Holman prison it should be the way visits are done. The DOC doesn't even follow it's own rules.

The SEG unit housing, solitary confinement has 200 inmates all of which get one visit per month, on the forth Tuesday, on a visiting yard that accommodates 14 visitors. Families drive 3, 4, 500 miles to visit their loved one's for what is supposed to be a 6 hour visit. They are made to leave after a couple hours to make room for other visitors. I've seen my family in tears because of this. They miss work, drive six hours to get here expecting a full visit, only to be disappointed and drive six hours back home.

A mother can't even hold her sons hand without the threat of having her visit terminated, yet that same officer can see two men in bed together inside the prison and won't say a word. It's OK to be involved in sexual perversion, but it's not OK to offer a little loving support to your family.

I understand you have spent a great deal of time in solitary confinement, can you tell us what that is like?

Solitary confinement here at Holman is unlike anywhere I've been. It's all about punishment. It's counter productive. Rehabilitation is not on the agenda. The rules alone will prove my contention. I can have a subscription to Stuff and Maxim, but I can't have an artbook. I can get magazines on cars, motorcycles and guns but I can't read Shakespeare, Tolstoy or Mark Twain. I can't have a book to read, period. I can't have chess pieces or art supplies which are allowed in every prison I've ever been in within the state of Alabama.

This unit isn't concerned with amelioration, it's nothing but a hate factory. Everything about the unit is designed to foster anger, hatred, rage, frustration, and bitterness. And it's working like you can't imagine.

There is a dark day coming to this prison, you can bet on that. There's just too much anger built up

How long is an inmate kept in solitary confinement?

As for how long they can keep an inmate in solitary confinement, as long as they please. They're supposed to follow guidelines, but they do as they wish. I've spent two and a half years in solitary, seven years in solitary, six years in solitary, and this time I've been in solitary over three years and counting. So, eighteen and a half years altogether. It's a little tough to deal with sometimes, but it's all a part of it I suppose.

What reasons are inmates placed in solitary confinement?

Inmates are placed in solitary confinement here at Holman for anything or nothing at all. Smoking a cigarette inside, cussing at another inmate, killing another inmate, or anything in between. They do what they want to do at Holman. I cut an inmate over three years ago in a knife fight, I'm still in lockup, yet I've seen other inmates with the same charge come and go in eighteen months. Go figure!

What can you tell us about the conditions in the prison your in?

For the most part they are stupid and counter productive, but I wouldn't call them inhumane, except for the heat. That alone is brutal enough. The average temperature inside these cells during the summer is over 100 degrees. There have been nights when it was 96 degrees at two in the morning. And if that isn't bad enough, the sun shines directly into the cells, creating a greenhouse effect. Yet, we aren't allowed to cover the window, so it goes up too 110-115 degrees in the day time. And you know what strikes me funny about this? If this were a zoo, and they housed their animals in that kind of heat, the Humane Society, Peta, and society in general would be in an outrage. So what does that tell you?

Bobby ended his interview by saying

"Someone once said you can measure how civilized a society is by the way they treat it's prisoners," I'd say that is about right.

author of quote unknown

Some information in this article taken from this petition I have authored with solitary confinement inmate Carlos T. Rameriz, a Texas inmate

http://www.petitiononline.com/lockup/petition.html