End solitary confinement in Illinois

I am a survivor of torture at the hands of Chicago police under notorious Area 2 Cmdr. Jon Burge. I was held in the Illinois Department of Corrections for 39 years for crimes I did not commit. I was released Nov. 2, 2023.

Sixteen of my years in prison were spent in solitary confinement. During that time, I was confined inside a cell 22 to 23 hours a day. I am here to tell you: Solitary confinement is torture. First, I was tortured by police, and then I was tortured by IDOC.

Being confined in a cell for so long had me depressed, hallucinating and paranoid. It caused severe problems with my concentration and memory, and I still suffer from the long-term effects of it.

I’ve witnessed many other prisoners in solitary struggle with similar psychological and emotional issues, who ended up engaging in self-harm and even suicide.

There is overwhelming research surrounding solitary confinement by many reputable national and international sources — the United Nations says it’s to be used only in extreme cases, and that indefinite or prolonged confinement should be prohibited. I truly don’t understand why this inhumane practice is still allowed to continue in Illinois or anywhere.

Every day, people in IDOC are confined to their cells for days on end without meaningful access to other human beings or programming. The U.N. has declared solitary over 15 days to be torture, but some of the longest current cases of solitary span over two decades.

Solitary confinement hurts us all. If we as a society tolerate torture, it erodes our humanity.

At Uptown Peoples’ Law Center, which receives up to 100 letters a week from people in Illinois prisons, we see solitary being used as an arcane form of punishment against anyone involved in even minor disputes with IDOC staff.

Often, a person having a mental health crisis is placed in solitary, rather than provided treatment, which only worsens preexisting psychiatric conditions and causes psychological and physical harm.

A new Illinois law led to real data on solitary in Illinois being released for the first time earlier this year. While incomplete, it confirmed the use of solitary is disproportionately experienced by Black prisoners and a significant number of people placed in solitary were designated as seriously mentally ill. In Illinois, there are no limits on how long a person can be held in isolation.

Three efforts have the potential to change the use of solitary in Illinois:

First, the Nelson Mandela Act — House Bill 1428 and Senate Bill 65 — would protect young adults, elderly adults, people with disabilities, and pregnant and postpartum people from solitary confinement. The legislation would also ensure that everyone could be out of their cells for at least four hours a day. For those who must remain in their cells for more than 20 hours a day, this could only occur for up to 10 days within any 180-day period.

Second, the Unlock The Box bus tour, a national campaign to end solitary confinement, will come to Chicago this October. This tour is intended to educate and mobilize the broader public to end solitary in Illinois and nationwide.

Finally, this fall, a 2016 lawsuit brought by Uptown Peoples’ Law Center challenging the use of solitary confinement in Illinois will go to trial. The suit argues this practice is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

All three efforts move us toward a future when solitary confinement in Illinois is a thing of the past. On behalf of so many people I left behind in prison, I call upon the state of Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker to end this horrific practice and use the authority of your office to pass the Nelson Mandela Act.

It is time to end the use of solitary confinement in Illinois.

Stanley Howard is a prisoner rights advocate at Uptown Peoples’ Law Center, a nonprofit legal services organization specializing in prisoners' rights. The law center has seven class-action lawsuits against the Illinois Department of Corrections, including one regarding solitary confinement, which goes to trial Oct. 6.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Howard received a financial settlement from the city of Chicago for torture that led to a wrongful conviction. He was pardoned by Gov. George Ryan in 2003 but remained in prison on convictions for unrelated crimes, for which he is seeking full exoneration.