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It’s Like Living in a Black Hole: Women of Color and Solitary Confinement in the Prison Industrial Complex by Cassandra Shaylor Used with permission of author. Originally appearing in New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement, Summer 1998.
I It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor Angela Tucker awoke at six a.m. cowering in the comer of her cell. shaking uncontrollably, unable tobreathe. A fifty-four year old African-Ameri- can woman, Tucker suffers from hypertension, diabetes, and asthma. Though she was confined alone in this cold, dark cell for six months, she finally had reached her limit. She repeatedly called for guards to help her, but they refused 10 respond. A few hours later, she was subjected o a strip-search and taken out of her cell to the shower, When she returned from the shower, she refused o re- enter the cell. She begged to be placed in a larger space, to be put in a cell with another prisoner. She explained that she was claustrophobic, and that since she had been placed in solitary confinement both her blood pressure and her blood sugar had risen to dangerous levels. Her pleas were ignored. Instead she was confionted by a cadre of fourteen guards who threatened to use physical force against her, including shooting her with rubber bullets,if she refused to enter her cell. She chose to comply, but insisted that she be placed on the medi- list. A couple of days later a psychiatric doctor came 1o her cell and prescribed a combination of Prozac and Buspar, two psychotropic ‘medications, to cure her “anxiety problems.” She remains in solitary confine- ‘ment and has received no medical attention for her serious medical conditions. As someone who has been in and out of the prison systems for fificen years, she says, I thought | had seen most of what they can dish out. Bu this here s the worst | never seen anything like it. Living in here is ike nothin’ you could ever begin to imagine. I’s like living in a black hole.” n1 Introduction Angela Tucker’s experience in solitary confinement in a women’s prison is not unique. 2 It reflects the increasing bruti [ ity in prisons, particularly * in prisons for women. This paper examines the emerging use of the control unit, the prison within the prison, as the ltimate expression of the regulation of the female body. often a racialized female body. This paper is a challenge to the masculinist manner in which control units are ‘generally discussed. The analysis specifically addresses the gendered and racial- ized use of the control unit and its effect on female bodies. “This analysis explores the implications of state regulatory practices that have resulted in an almost 400% increase in the rates of incarceration for women since 1980, a large number of whom are women of color and who are imprisoned for nonviolent, economic offenses. n3 This rise in incarceration is tied 1o several interrelated factors: (1) a political economy that creates expend- able populations and relies on sustained societal fear of crime and of certain
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2 asses of individuals as criminals; (2) inflammatory media and cultural repre- ntations of criminality; and (3) legislative and judicial systems that cons atly deploy a model of total punishment when dealing with citizens who fail ive up to prescribed behavioral norms. nd One of the largest women’s prisons in the world is Valley State Prison r Women (VSPW) in Chowchilla, California. n5 This article draws upon the thor’s experiences as an attomey working for women imprisoned at VSPW d focuses in particular on women housed in the control unit, the Security ousing Unit (SHU). As a staff attorney for a non-profit organization that pro- des legal services for women prisoners, this author regularly conducts inter- ews with women in California state prisons. Though this analysis is limited to terviews of women prisoners in Califoria, California’s prison system is the rgest in the country and contains the two largest women’s prisons in the world. 6 As such, it provides a blueprint for the nation; thus, this analysis of control nits s applicable to other prison systems as well. This analysis of the prison is grounded in and shaped by the experi- nces of women prisoners. This is especially important given the almost com- lete silence around contemporary prisoners’ perspectives. Although this article oks at racialization practices and solitary confinement conditions for women risoners, the analysis also draws connections between their experiences and the olitical economy of the prison industrial complex as well as the larger history £ solitary confinement practices. Control Units Control units represeat the penultimate synthesis of technology and pace in the service of social control and dehumanization within the prison. ‘or women at VSPW, this punishment regime consists of twenty-three hours a ay of isolation in cramped, cold, dark cells, sometimes involving total sensory eprivation. 7 These cells are approximately eight feet by six feet, the size of n average bathroom. n§ Women in the SHU are allowed nine hours outside a veek. n9 This s the only opportunity they have to interact with other women. 110 Although the cells originally were designed with small windows, the insti- ution recently blacked out these windows, n1 1 removing any sense of a world utside. Control units are also referred to as security housing units (SHU), vio- ence control units (VCUS), or maxi-maxi facilites. n12 There is a frightening rend in prison construction toward building separate “supermax” prisons, that s, entire institutions modeled on the control unit. n13 Forty states, the
3 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor federal system, and the District of Columbia all have at least one control unit. 14 Women have generally been confined in control units ‘within already exist- ing women’s prisons, but the increasing brutalty in those institutions indicates that female supermax fz ties are likely in the not-so-distant future. Whether free-standing units within an existing institution, or prisons built specifically for housing prisoners in solitary confinement, conditions in these spaces and the effects on the individuals housed wi them are strikingly similar. The expanding use of control units reflects the increasingly repressive character of prisons. It is important to note that isolation and sensory eprivation are now used to some degree in most penal institutions, including many county jails. 15 Control units are specifically designed for these purposes, n16 but many prisons - do not require a separate unit to employ these tactics. a7 “This trend has been called the ‘Marionization’ of American prisons, referring to the increasing brutality in prisons in general, many of which use the control unit strategy and the repression at USP Marion as a model for policies ‘and practices. n18 The legal system periodically has determined that such con- finement amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. n19 In the current political climate of increasing state surveillance and punishment of women, however, such violations of human rights are more systematic and routine. n20 Although courts often find certain aspects of ary confinement unconstitutional, such decisions are made insttution by institution: therefore, cach new prison requires a new legal challenge. n21 Due to the recent passage of the prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), n22 it is increasingly more difficult for prisoners’ lawyers 1o bring lawsuits on their behalf. 023 This is part of a rend by national policy ‘makers to limit the rights of prisoners. In light of recent repressive Congressio- nal legislation against poor people in the United States, including the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, also known as the “welfare reform act,” n24 it is not melodramatic to view the PLRA as a calculated firs step toward dismantling civil rights in arenas outside - of prison as well. Given the common national disdain for prisoners, such an as- sault on civil rights can begin there. ‘Women in Control Units Prisoners and advocates for prisoners see the increasing use of control units as instruments of gender domination and torture. n25 As the provided examples will illusrate, this s clearly the case at VSPW. Women prisoncrs are political subjects and consequently do become aware of themselves. in his case their actual physical bodies, as sites of political struggle and resistance. Women
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 4 o resis: they speak up; fight back; or participate in individual and class action awsuits, which represent individual and collective challenges to the conditions f their confinement. Such challenges, however, are viewed harshly and often esult in confinement in the SHU, the sole objective of which seems to be to reak women. Little else explains such oppressive structures within women’s risons. According to the women interviewed by this author at VSPW, women n the SHU are under constant surveillance and denied any privacy. n26 The <ll doors are designed 1o allow guards to see in at all times. n27 This makes he women extremely vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. Male guards vatch women in the showers, often tuming off the water if the women com- lain. 128 The toilets are located in the cells, within view of the guards, who fien harass women while they are on the toilet. n29 When guards conduct pat carches they are supposed 1o act in a professional manner and avoid embarrass- ng inmates, n30 however, women prisoners report that male guards regularly rope them with the palms of their hands. n31 ‘Though male guards are not permitted to conduct stripscarches, they ve often present when such searches occur. n32 The presence of this level of exual harassment creates an environment which inevitably leads to even more. crious sexual assault and abuse. A story was recently reported to this author y three women in the institution about a woman who is housed in the SHU, who was allegedly raped by a guard while living in general population. n33 The ape resulted in pregnancy and because she refuses to have an abortion, she has een sent 10 the SHU. 134 Due to their relative lack of power, women prisoners e vulnerable 10 such attacks by guards. This is especially truc when they are solated from other women. The sense of entilement male guards feel as a result ftheir status in a masculinist institution within a patriarchal culture, coupled vith the subordinated status of female prisoners as women and as “property of he state,” promotes such abuse. The cult of silence preserved by the masculinist uard culture protects guards from anything but the lightest disciplinary sanc- ions. n35 Any time a women leaves her cell in the SHU -to take a shower, see: legal vsitor, 0r 10 8010 court -she is handcuffed and strip-searched. n36 The women describe this process as nbearably humiliating and unnecessary. Yvonne Smith, a twenty-one year old African-American prisoner confined to the SHU because of a suicide attempt, said: ‘They don’t do this because of “safety and security of the institution.”
5 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor they do it for humiliation. Some of them really like it, There is nothing we can do between our cells and the shower, no way we can pick anything up. They’re with us, watching us, the whole time. They are just tryin’ to break us down. n37 Claudia Johnson, a ifty-two year old white woman in the SHU, stated | {hat she refuses o be stripped out. n38 The institution sends in an “extraction Leam” to force the strip-search on her when she has (0 go (o court. 39 This team consists of eight men in iot gear who enter her cell and hold her down while a female guard rips off her clothes and conducts the search n their pres- - ence. 140 Claudia Johnson reported that during the searches male guards make Vulgar comments and threats, and they videotape each incident. nd1 | “The use of extraction teams i a routine practce in supermax facili: * ties; women are not exempt from it. n42 For women, however,this treatment s uniquely traumatic because male guards usually perform the extraction. The incidents are highly sexualized: women are rendered immobile, placed in a po- Sition of extreme vulnerabilty,stripped of allof their clothing, and then subject- ed 10 a full body search. n43 Because about sixty percent of women in prison are survivors of some form of physical o sexual abuse, nda cel extracions for many of them are not only traumatic in the moment, but result in a re-experienc- ng of past rauma. 145 Claudia Johnson said, It is about humiliation and total Joss of dignity, and I don’t care what they call i, I call it rape.” 146 Johnson reported that when she first began o refuse to strip out, the male guards locked her inthe cold shower for two days witho food, water or a blanket 147 They periodically passed by the shower and yelled that when she decided to comply with the strpsearch, they would give her food and water and lether return to her cell. 148 Several other women who overheard the incident corroborated her story. 149 Afte two days, the guards finally released her. 150 * They now use the exiraction tea to force strip searches on her. 51 ‘Control units are built without any concern for the detrimental effects they have on the women within them. Soliary confinement has a particularly devastating effect on mentaly ll women, many of whom are sent 10 the SHU because they “act out” in general population as a result of their meaal lless. 152 Many women are prescribed psychotropic medications, but most receive 10 meaningful psychiaric reatment. n53 Within penal institutions, the medical- zation model s widely used against women. n54 This author has iterviewed women who can barly speak because they are so heavily drugged and has been told about others who rarely move from their bunks because the medica- ion virually immobitizes them, nSS Some women talk to themselves or yell incessantly at their cell doors, while others experience paranoid delusions and
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 6 allucinations, nS6 Many cover themselves in urine and feces. n57 These ehaviors represent stages of psychological breakdown that have been ob- erved in prisoners of war. n58 For these women, their own bodies become their cimary sites of resistance. Unfortunately, this behavior perpetuates the guards™ erceptions of them as violent and legitimizes longer sentences in the SHU. Such (mis)treatment is tied to commitment of women to mental institu- jons as a form of social control, as well as the diagnosis of mental illness in vomen who have rational, sane responses to injustices in their lives. n59 This as historically been a tactic used more often against women than men. n60 For hose women who do need mental health treatment, appropriate mental health ntitutions and programs are increasingly non-existent, especially for poor vomen. n61 Prisons become the spaces in which to warehouse these women, Control Units for Women as Racialized Spaces ‘The prison is site for social control of all women, but solitary confine- nent is a space reserved for particular women. Of the fifty-two women in the HU at VSPW, 61.4 percent of them are women of color. n62 Over 40 percent f the women are “Black,” 21 percent are “Hispanic/Mexican.” n63 and 5.9 per- ent are categorized as other. n64 Though the dehumanization processes in the. HU replicate that which happens in the larger prison, the purpose of which is o produce docill bodies, n6S these processes are more extreme and have more: etrimental effects on women housed in the SHU. In general, discipline for women in prison is extremely harsh, especially n comparison to discipline for men. n66 Women are far more likely than men 0 be sentenced to the SHU for minor infractions. n67 While men are confined o control units for allegedly attacking guards, participating in gangs or selling rugs in the institution, women are placed in the SHU for spitting at guards, for ghting with other women, or for attempting suicide. n68 A central function f prisons in general s to punish women who fail to subscribe to a model of emininity that historically has been (re)produced in discourse as white, pure, assive, heterosexual, and located in motherhood. n69 When women operate utside of this model, cven slightly, they are disciplined harshly for doing so. 70 ‘Women of color in prison face a double bind in this regard. As Kim- erle Crenshaw points out, black women have never been perceived to fit this escription of patriarchal notions about femininity, because racism denies them ccess (o these norms. 71 Black women are prefigurcd as aggressive
7 I’ Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor ‘and recalcitrant; guards, therefore. are predisposed to view them this way and discipline them accordingly. n72 This analysis can be extended to Latinas and Native American women in prison. Latinas are perceived to be loud and bel- ligerent, sexually aggressive, or immigrants who are unabie (0 speak English. 73 Native American women are perceived as backward, savage and/or primi- {ive. especially when they seek o preserve religious rights while imprisoned. 74 These views of women of color rely on stereotypes of white femininity as a ‘model against which to judge “other” women. ‘Beyond the racist politics of the SHU, as represented by the dispro- ‘portionate confinement of women of color there, the dehumanization practices that take place within it in can also be read as racialized. Women are degraded, sexually humiliated, and denied minimal medical care and any meaningful hu- ‘man contact. n75 Women are often denied basic necessities, such as food and hygiene supplies. n76 They are made to beg for sanitary napkins and toilet pa- per and are often told during the last week of the month that the prison has “run out.™ n77 Such practices resonate with larger ‘histories of racism that dehuman- ize people of color. “The institution consistently deploys racially coded discourses when in- teracting with the women in the SHU. Guards regularly accuse women of being dangerous, manipulative, or malingering, especially when women seek medical treatment. n78 Guards speak to and about the women as though they are sub- human, 079 A pamphlet, produced by the Warden’s office, s given to women ‘when they enter the SHU and lsts times for daily “feedings.” n80 Guards con- stantly use racial epithets, many of which are gendered. to refer to the women. They call the prisoners “dogs,” “niggers,” “bitches,” “whores” and “black. ‘bitches;” women refer o their cells as “cages.” n81 When women are denied pri in the SHU amount to very litle, but include: showers three times a week; pos- session of propeny, like writing implements and paper; time spent outside; and. ‘permission to purchase hygiene supplies from the commissary. n83 All of these are rights accorded to women by law, n84 but the nstitution often withholds them as punishment, transforming them into "privileges.” Denise Jones stated: ““They treat us like animals. No, you wouldn’t treat an animal the way they do us here. 1 am sure they don’t reat their dogs the way they treat us.” n8S The consistent relegation of women prisoners to a subhuman status reflects the intertwined histories of the subjugation of women and the dehu- manization of people of color. Control units are designed to remove agency and humanity from people they targe?. The fostering of a perception of prisoners as less than human allows state employees to deny the women any semblance of ges,they are put on what guards refer to as “dog status.” n82 “Privileges” *
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 8 ignity and to abuse them without compunction. This discourse of subhumanity kes connections to slavery and the manner in which slaves were dehuman- zed in order for slave owners 1o reat them like chattel. The economy of the rison is fueled by such notions, as women bodies can be more easily reduced o the mere property of the state. n86 Purposes of the Control Unit One purpose offered by the state for control units is the reduction of iolence within the prison. n87 The realiy is that in 1985 a Congressional versight Committee found that eighty percent of people housed in the Marion “ontrol Unit did not require such a high level of security. n88 Research in¢ ates that women are more prone (o violent behavior as a result of confinement n solitary units, but violence against themselves. n89 Many women in solitary onfinement release their frustration and anger by engaging in self-harming sehavior, including suicide attempts and selfmutilation. n90 Regina Morris, an African-American woman housed in the SHU, has multiple scars on her wrists ind arms from this selfabuse. n91 Teresa Brown, another African-American voman in solitary confinement, explained why she had recently slit her wrists: I have asthma, and | just couldn’t take it bein® locked up like that. They wasn’t istenin’to me when I couldn’t breathe. | couldn’t take it anymore. I needed ome relief.” n92 Confinement in the SHU has devastating psychological ef- ects on most women housed there. n93 Extended periods of dleness and social solation result in vicious mood swings, crying spells, and intense feelings of aranoia. n94 Many women express fear that their confinement will make it nore difficult or them to adjust to placement in general prison population or to fe outside of prison. n95 The effect of rendering women unable to function in he world outside of prison increases the likelihood of recidivism, which in turn rovides a constant source of reveaue for the prison system. The fact that prison uthorities expect women to commit crimes when they leave prison can be used o justify the maintenance of prisons as harsh and brutal places. ‘A second professed reason for control units s to reduce expenses -isola- jon means fewer people allowed access to vocational and educational programs nd 1o rehabiltative. religious and recreational services. n96 Diminished access o these programs in control units is linked to the trend of dismantling programs n the prison system in general. n97 This move away from rehabilitation and oward punishment is now the prevailing trend in prison administration. n98 “ontrol units are one part o this move toward repression and brutality. The eality is that expenses are not reduced as a result of the introduction of control nits. It
9 In’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor i actually much more expensive to maintain control units than those units that house the general population. because of the level of security involved and the increase in health-related expenses. 99 llinois and Wisconsin have recently begun constructing their first “Supermax” facilities at a cost of sixty million and ninety million dollars respectively. n100 Each control unit cell costs $ 74,000 to build. 101 A deeper look reveals other, more disturbing and probably more accu- rate, readings of the purpose of control units. Former Warden of USP Marion, Ralph Arons has stated: “*The purpose of the Marion Control Unit is to control revolutionary attitudes in the prison system and in the society at large. n102 There is an interesting connection between Arons’ statement and history -the first control unit opened at Marion in 1972, one year after the Atiica uprising in New York. nl03 ‘A 1989 Prison Discipline Study found that the most common disciplin- ing strategy used against jailhouse lawyers was solitary confinement. n104 This study found that jailhouse lawyers were fouind to be by far the largest number of those in control unts. n105 Other categories of prisoners who were found 10 be placed in solitary confinement in disproportionate numbers were: blacks mentally disabled individuals, gang members. political prisoners. Latinos, gays and lesbians, and people with AIDS. n106 ‘ Many prisoners are sent to control units for filing grievances or organiz- ing other prisoners to respond to prison conditions. n107 Patricia Smith reported that she was sent to the SHU for retaliating against a guard who had repeatedly forced her to have sex with him. n108 She filed an inmate grievance against him; he responded with a 115, which is a serious disciplinary write-up, claim- ing that she attacked him. n109 That “115” resulted in a SHU sentence. al10 . Denise Jones is a thirty-three year old African-American woman at ’VSPW who came to prison as an eighteen year old and has been incarcerated for fifteen years. nl 11 In 1996, she was brutally beaten by a male guard while his superior officer watched. n112 She filed a civil rights lawsuit against the ‘guards involved. n113 She has repeatedly received threats and harassment as a tesult. n114 She recently organized an HIV peer education group in the prison. 115 These were women who were commited to educating themselves, leading ‘workshops and producing theater pieces about HIV prevention and treatment on all four of the prison yards. n116 According to Jones, several of the guards 1old her they did not like the level of freedom she now had in the facility. n117 She explained that on the night before her peer education theater group began rehearsals for their performance, she was taken (0 administrative segregation
1t’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 10 ending an investigation into her alleged drug trafficking apparently a trumped p charge. n118 In her udministrative hearing before the Instittional Classifica- on Committee, Jones had no right (0 an attomey and no right (o have witnesses stify on her behalf. n119 She was allowed 10 collect witness statements, but s presiding officer did not have (0 take those statements into account. n120 here was no evidence presented against her, and another woman who actually onfessed o the “crime” was released to general population. ni21 Prison of- cials sentence people to serve time in the SHU, not courts of law. n122 Denise now serving one year in the SHU, n123 clearly as a result of her organizing ctivities and her willingness to fight back against guards who brutalized her. ‘The History of the SHU These cases are only two of many that illustrate the importance of ncovering the increasing and hidden use of the control it as a disciplining. trategy of the prison. particularly against women of color. In order to under- tand the growing trend toward repression in women’s prisons, tis important (o iscuss the history out of which the SHU at VSPW arose. Solitary confinement vas introduced in 1829 by Quakers, who believed isolation and self-reflection vould promote penitence and reform. 124 It quickly became apparent that nstead, such isolation often led to mental breakdown. n125 As a result,solitary onfinement was abandoned as a general practice; however, it emains a method f social control against specific prisoners. n126 In the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. Sdgar Schein of Massachusets Institute of Technology conducted rescarch on he Chinese model of “reeducation” deployed by Koreans against U.S. Prison- 15 of War. n127 From interviews with American servicemen repatriated (0 the J.S., he distlled a model of mind control that he then presented to key repre- entatives from the Bureau of Prisons at a conference in 1962 n128 Transcripts from his speech and the discussion following reveal interest on the art of prison officials in using the research to suppress the beliefs and organiz- ng efforts of Black Muslims and conscientious objectors. n129 In 1970, Dr. ames V. McConnell published an article entitled “Criminals Can Be Brain- washed Now," in which he argued for the application of sensory and perceptual seprivation and social isolation to prisoners. n130 During the 1970s, numerous sehavior modificati US prisons which imple- mented these strategies, sometimes combined with use of psychotropic medica- ions. n131 ‘The first control unit prison emerged in 1983 at USP Marion, a federal
11 Ir’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor prison for men in llinois. n132 USP Marion became the model for the cur- fent wave of control units and solitary confinemen strategjes throughou the country. n133 Ostensibly in response to a violent incident, the entire prison was locked down. n134 That lockdown has never been lified, effectively transform- ing the entire prison into a control unit. n135 The tactics developed at Marion have been applied at prisons all over the country. These tactics were instru- ‘mental in the design of the hightech federal control unit at Florence, Colorado, ‘which houses 550 people in permanently locked down cells. n136 ‘The only control unit specifically designed for women political prison- ers was opened at Lexington Federal Prison in Kentucky in 1986. n137 The unit employed multiple tactics to destroy the women’s senses of self and 1o break down their political convictions through sensory deprivation and small-group isolation. n138 The unit housed three political prisoners: Alejandrina Torres, Puerto Rican independentista; Susan Rosenberg. North American anti-imperialist; and Silvia Baraldini, ltlian national and anti-imperialist.n139 ‘The structure was built underground and the interior was entirely white, n140 which resulted in reports from the women of hallucinations of black spots and strings on the walls and floors. n141 The women were made to wear large, shapeless clothing and were forbidden to hang anything on the white walls. n142 What little contact they had with their jailers was often in the form of disembodied voices addressing them through loud speakers. n143 They had only occasional contact with the outside, mostly with their lawyers. n144 After an intense campaign waged by a broad coalition of concerned people, the unit ‘was shut down in 1988. n145 The legal decision was based on the political nature of the placements -the court determined that the women were housed there as a result of their political beliefs and that such placement was uncon- stitutional. n146 Although the courts came close to admitting that there are political prisoners in the United States, the decision did not declare that such treatment rises to the level of cruel and unusual punishment. n147 The decision was undermined when the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that prisons are free to use political associations and beliefs to justify different and harsher treatment 148 Since Lexington closed, other units, modeled on Lexington, have opened in other parts of the country. n149 Women in the federal prison at Marianna, Florida, for example, and other prisons across the country. are reporting increas- ingly brutal, similar conditions. n150 Where once such units housed mostly po- litical prisoners. now all prisoners are potentially subject to this level of social control. 151
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2 Current Trends in Prison Construction VSPW is the newest and most repressive women’s prison, representing current model in prison construction and the increasingly brutal conditions prisons. The design incorporates some of the most disturbing examples of odern prison technology, despite the fact that women are rarely violent in ison. The vast majority of women (approximately eighty percent) are impris- ned for non-violent offenses. n152 Approximately sixty percent of the women e serving time for drug-related offenses, most often for the mere possession of rugs. n153 There have been no recent escape atiempts by women prisoners in aliforia and no organized sustained violent uprisings. Valley State is yrrounded on all sides by two thirty foot-high barbed wire fences topped with uge coils of razor wire. n154 Despit the presence of a guard in the watchtow- r with a high-powered rifle and the reality that these fences would be physical- impossible for an escaping prisoner (o cross without being slashed to bits, the astitution erected an electric fence that stands between them. 155 The fence as enough clectricity coursing through it to kill small animals. n156 Sometimes omen prisoners are forced to clean dead birds out of the fence. nl57 Women ave described this chore as a form of psychological torture because they know rat the guards regard them with utter disdain, and they fear the guards might be. rclined to “forget” to tum off the electric current. n158 These technologies and he ways in which they are deployed against the women are not designed for the, afety of the institution, but instead are used mainly to nduce fear in women. Prisoners are often used as human trials for new technologies prior o dequate testing. New “beanbag” bullets were recently introduced in Califomia risons. n159 Maria Hemandez, a woman imprisoned at VSPW, was the test ase for these bullets. n160 In direct violation of protocols conceming the use of hese weapons, n161 a guard fired directly into her back. The bullets exploded n impact, bore into and bumed her skin, leaving large and permanent scars o her back. 0162 In the first week that these bullets were used at VSPW, five vomen were shot with them. 0163 In addition to using prisoners as human trials, new security systems are. ing tested on those who visit the prison. There are plans to place x-ray ma- nes in the visitor centers in all Califomia prisons within the next year. n164 Vo lead vests are provided, despite the fact that these machines commonly are inderstood to be carcinogenic and can cause birth defects and genetic damage. 165 Unlike x-rays performed during a dental examination, which is a localized ow dose of radiation, these devices require the visitor to pass through
13 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor three times in order to check the entire body. n166 This exposes the vi an excessive amount of radiation. Such technology contributes to the of fear around prisoners; the public is made to believe that such measures are necessary. These devices serve to erect yet another barrier (0 visitors from the outside, contributing both to the isolation of prisoners and the secrecy around the brutaliy of prison life. There is currently a state enforced media ban against face-toface inter- views of prisoners by journalists. nl67 This ban is part of a growing national trend to prevent representatives of the media from interviewing prisoncrs. nl68 ‘This insures that only prisoners and their supporters are witness to the brutality of prisons, thus denying the larger public information about the reality of prison conditions. This lack of information makes it much easier for people to believe in stereotypes about criminals and to se themselves as separate from them. Because of the current state of secrecy around prisons, it is necessary 10 have ‘personal communications with prisoners in order to uncover at least some of what s happening inside. ‘The Emerging Prison Industrial Complex The growing isolation of prisoners through the use of the control unit and the isolation of knowledge about prison life facilitated by state sponsored actions like the media ban, are reinforced by strategies of isolation deployed outside of prison. In City of Quartz, Mike Davis identifies a new “fortress™ mentality that informs urban spaces and planning practices. n169 As a result of this mentality. poor communities of color are increasingly isolated from wealthy ‘white neighborhoods, through planned “gated communities” with high-tech se- curity systems. n170 Repressive policing tactics in poor neighborhoods result in the cordoning off of people of color into areas of extreme poverty and isolation. ol The level of repression in the emerging isolationist model both within and outside of the prison is tied to the economic and political effects of the national investment in the military industrial complex. This investment in militarism increasingly informs policing and imprisonment practices. The US government is currently selling surplus surveillance equipment and weapons. including tanks, to police departments in cities in the U.S. n172 In 1997, law enforcement agencies purchased 1.2 million pieces of military hardware from the Department of Defense. n173 Communities as small as 75.000 people are ‘policed by officers in full rot gear riding in armored personnel carriers. n174 Black urban neighborhoods are the most frequently targeted arcas for this para- military activity. n175
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor iz Though military bases in California have closed in the last ten years Jmost a the same rate that prisons opened. 176 the illusion of the demilitar- zation of the defense industry disguises the reality of 2 continuous military wildup. The military budget still enjoys a privileged position in United States sovernment spending; President Clinton’s 1998 proposed discretionary budget ncludes $ 265 billion for the military. n177 The distant second in allocation » funds is education: approximately thirty-one billion dollars. n178 In this post-Cold War era, the military buildup now stretches to domains outside of he traditional military purview, like prisons. High-tech weaponry and military hardware are modified for use in the prison industry. n179 Along with smallet companies, former defense contractors like Westinghouse and General Dynam- cs are now designing prison technology in the service of expanding the military industrial complex through the development of a prison industrial complex. 180 Corrections officials and guards now take a wholly combative stance 10~ ward prisoners, rather than a rehabilitative or even a custodial one. They receive training in military combat techniques and the use of high tech weapons. One recent example of this growing militarism is the videotape of the “training” in a private prison in Texas which showed guards brutalizing prisoners. n181 Every aspect of guard culture is modeled on the military. Guards dress in fatigues and combat boots and subscribe o a military hierarchy. At VSPW, guards force women (o march in single file lines around the prison. n182 In the administration building at VSPW, a trophy case in the lobby contains memora- bilia of the Special Emergency Response Unit (SERT), a cadre of guards who are trained in special military techniques to be used in criis sitvations at VSPW. 1183 A photograph of this unit shows twelve men in camouflage fatigues and grey berets. n184 In place of the patch that usually reads “Army,” is a pach which says “VSPW." nl85 The trophy case also contains a plaque, with a bullet casing attached o it inscribed with the name of the “Top Gun.” the most skilled “sharpshooter" in the unit. n186 ‘The growing militarism in prison does not result from an actual need for such excessive punishment -after al, as already stated, cighty percent of ‘women are in prison for non-violent offenses and a vast majority of them are never violent within the prison. n187 Prisons on the whole do not reduce vio- lence. n188 Despite the imprisonment binge, the rate of violent crime has in fact remained steady. n189 Prisons do perpetuate violence, however, in the form of destruction of families, and in the wholesale destruction of economic and politi- cal power in the communities in which those families live. Prisons also provide economic opportunites for corporate and government systems, which thrive on
1S It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor the violence they perpetuate againss those communities. A central example of corporate involvement in the prison industrial ‘complex is the Corrections Corporation of America. It is currently the most profitable company in the privately-run prison industry. n190 American Ex- press and General Electric have contributed o private prison construction. 191 Financial powerhouses, such as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.. Smith Bamey Shearson, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co. are currently underwriting prison construction through the sale of private, tax-free bonds which require no voter approval. n192 Furthermore, the construction industry is not the only private interest profiting from prisons. Everything from Dial Soap to AT&T is marketed 1o corrections officials. n193 Health care companies and food service providers compete for lucrative prison contracts. 194 Annual expositions provide a forum for companies to market products ranging from stun guns to razor wire. A startling example of such technology is 2 computer tracking system designed by QueTel Corp., which would require institutions to issue scanners to guards and attach bar codes to prisoners. 095 The introduction of a device such as a bar code is the ultimate material semiotic manifestation of the marriage of economy and technology in the prison-the: prisoner’s body symbolically inscribed as commodity. n196 Perhaps most disturbing about this political economy is the growing exploitation of prison labor. As growing numbers of women are arrested and imprisoned, they increasingly become a part of this exploited class of laborers. Prisoners work to produce shrink wrap packages for Microsoft and handle reser- vations for TWA. n197 California voters passed Proposition 139, the Inmate Labor Initiative of 1990, 0198 which paved the way for inmates to be leased out to private industry, reinstating slavery through the explicit repeal of the principle that prison work would be voluntary. The initiative states in part: “The people of the State of California find and declare that inmates who are confined in state prison or county jals should work as hard as taxpayers for ipkeep, and that those inmates may be required to perform work and services." n199 In California, a semi-autonomous state agency called the Prison Indus- try Authority (PIA) was created to make industries within the prison self-sus- taining and profitable. n200 The PIA mission statement no longer refers rehabilitation or training; it focuses only on maximizing profits. n201 Ultimate- 1y, prisoners find that they do not learn marketable skill in prison and are rarely able to find jobs similar to the ones they performed inside (or any job atall, for that matter). A gendered division of labor exists within prison industries: women have generally worked in laundry. pholstery. fabric production and data £’352e8 o o 6 R E R 00 0E B | B [ P i i ( i | |
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 16 while men have worked in metal and wood production, automative shops, iries and slaughterhouses. n202 At VSPW, women prisoners produce eye- asses for LensCrafters through PIA-Optical. 1203 These women are. paid less. an one dollar an hour, are forced to work overtime or risk losing their bs, and are prevented from organizing against dangerous and exploitative ork conditions. n204 Prison labor practices in the United States are analogous t0 neo-imperi- transnational corporate practices in the world outside. The hypermobility capital creates large populations of unemployed free people in the United ates. Corporations can seek out low-cost laborers: prisoners provide such cap, local labor power. The resalt is the commodification of prisoners; not Ay i their labor commodified, but their very bodies now represet profits. hese bodies, most often racialized and increasingly female, are bought and 1d on the stock market, as the prison industry requires a steady supply 1o Aintain profits. This demand for prisoners is met through public policy deci- ons which encourage the incarceration of greater numbers of people. Prison bor represents the ultimate alienated labor; for prisoners there is no longer ven the illusion of choice. The disregard for the humanity of imprisoned omen and men, and the unadulterated joy in the possibility of profiting at their (pense is summed up in a brochure for a conference on private prisons. n205 his conference was organized by the World Research Group, a New York- ased investment firm, whose marketing motto was: “While arrests and convic- ons are steadily on the rise, profits are to be made profits from crime. Get in on e ground floor of this booming industry now!” n206 Race, Gender and the Prison Boom The material reality of this “booming industry” is the proliferation of cisons. In the las ten years, twenty prisons have been built in California. 1207 hree were prisons for women. n208 This expansion is part of a national istorical trend, Though only two or three women’s prisons were built per de- ade between 1930 and 1950, there were seven bui the 1960s, seventeen in he 19705, and thirty-four in the 1980s. 1209 Scholars and activists who address ésues of imprisonment seldom acknowledge the expanding population of wom- n prisoners and the proliferation of women’s prisons. This expansion is not nsignificant: while the number of men in prison has doubled in the last decade, he number of women has more than tripled. n210 Thus, women play an ever- rowing role in the increasingly profitable punishment industry, an industry in which the financial stakes are incredibly high. The United States now incarcerates approximaely two million people.
17 Ir’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor a number equivalent to the population of a large city and more than any other industrialized country in the world. n211 Though women comprise only about 7.37 percent of those incarcerated, or about 113,000 people, they are the fastest growing population in prison. n212 Prisons today constitute elaborate ware- housing systems into which members of the expendable classes, such as the poor, unemployed, homeless, mentally il, and drug-dependent. are dumped. “The defunding of social services and the effects of global capitalism contribute 10 the impoverishment of greater numbers of people, n213 an in- creasing number of whom are women of color and poor women of all ethnic backgrounds. n214 Racist notions about women are discursively produced . outside of, as well as within, the prison system, contributing 10 a damaging . environment, specifically for women of color. Consistently, women of color are stereotyped as hyper-sexualized females, excessively reproductive welfare recipients and/or crack addicts. n215 As a consequence, they are targeted for surveillance and monitoring by the police and child protective services. They are disproportionately amested, convicted, and incarcerated for crimes such as prostitution, petty theft, embezzlement, and drug possession and sales. n216 Prevailing political investments in “tough on crime" measures result in Longer, harsher sentences that discriminately affect commanities of color. n217 As a result, the prison itself is increasingly a racialized space, thus, affecting ‘women in unique ways. Approximately thirty-five percent of women in prison are African-American and twenty-four percent Latina, numbers significantly larger than their respective representation i national demographics. n218 About cighty-percent of these women have at least two children. n219 Thus, tere s also a largely unexamined impact on communities of color, especially children in those communities, who are also effected by the “imprisonment binge". Historically, fear has played an important role in the perpetuation of racism, and remains vital to the anti-crime thetoric now circulating in the na- - tional imaginary. n220 Media and cultural representations of criminality pander to racial stereotypes of criminals and perpetuate the false notion that crime is everywhere at all times. Despite the fact that violent crime constitutes only twelve percent of all crime, it is repeatedly headlined in mainsiream, corporate- . sponsored print media and nightly news programs. n221 Research indicates that individuals who are least likely o be affected by crime are those who are ‘most afaid of it. 1222 Reality-based television programs like Cops and Amer- - ica’s Most Wanted conflate news and entertainment and contribute to national paranoia about the omnipresence of crime. 1223 These media practices, which create and sustain fear of crime, are closely tied to the creation of public policy and government funding decisions, like the passage of the 1995 Crime Bill or
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 18 e California Three Strikes Initiative. n224 Ideas about the ease of prison life re cultivated in order (o legitimize increasingly brutal prison conditions and unishment practices. Misperceptions about the availability of rehabilitation o prison belie the reality that a regime of punishment has completely replaced ven the slightest gesture toward rehabilitation. As Angela Davis has argued, the revailing racist logic allows for the assumed criminality of black and brown eople, rather than the recogaition that the inordinately high number of incar- erated people of color is evidence of structural racism. 1225 Imprisoning America The rise in incarceration and the increasing repression in prisons is onnected to the economic and political restructuring of America. In order o inderstand what that political project entais, it is necessary t0 unmask the ways i which the prison remains excluded from the rest of society because itis 3 acialized space. As police chief of Atanta, Eldrin Bell asks: 1f we started to put white America in jail at the same rate that we’re putting black America in jail, I wonder whether our collective feclings would be the same, o would we be putting pressure on the President and our clected officials not to lock up America, but to save America? 1226 Though Bell’s statement reinscribes a black/white dichotomy that fails (o fully address the racial constitution of the prison, the sentiment it expresses is extremely important. He describes two Americas, black and white. This author would argue that what s also relevant in his statement is the division between two other notions of America -on inside and one outside. Through the space of the prison, there is a contest over what it means (0 be American. Racism is a constitutive piece of this construction. ‘When individuals are imprisoned, they are no longer considered nation- al subjects; they lose most of their rights as citizens and are thus perceived (o be outside of the national body. This is especially true i, in addition to transgress- ing prescribed societal norms through activity that is deemed criminal, they are acialized subjects. Many people express no opposition (o the diminishing civil rights of prisoners, in large part because they believe that individuals forfeit those rights when they commit criminal acts. Individuals outside of prison Gefine themselves as “good” citizens in contrast to those inside. They fail to acknowledge the heavy hand that racism plays in determining which citizens are targeted by the state for arrest and conviction. Prisoners thus represent the abject of the nation, in large part because 2
19 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor ‘majority of them are people of color. For women of color this expulsion com- pounds a pre-existing invisibilty. Not only are they absent in discourses about race. gender, and prison, but their very bodies are hidden by the state thus ren- dering them completely invisible. The invisibility of women of color is exacer- bated by prison walls and their humanity is lost within them. o » Conclusion e Angela Tucker’s analogy (o the black hole with which this article p began is an apt description of the control unit and, as such, serves as a stuctur- ¢ ing metaphor for my discussion of women of color in solitary confinement. In - scientific discourse, a black hole is defined as: aregion of space, created by the total gravitational collapse of mater, ‘whose attractive gravitational force is 5o intense tht no matter, light, or com- ‘munication of any kind can escape. [l is] ifficult o observe for two reasons. First, it is] black’ — o light from inside can escape to make it visible. Sec- ond. it s) a very small object. Thus, it can be “observed" only by deducing its presence from the effects tha ts gravitational field has on matter lying outside the black hole ... Time and space are warped: time is slowed down and space stretched out near a black hole ... [The pressure in a black hole i 5o great that] a person [encountering it}would be ripped to shreds .. . Black holes are predict- d o occur at the endpoint of the evolution of sufficiently massive stars. 1227 Qr i In terms of the SHU, this analogy to the black hole is multilayered: the “blackness” of the SHU is reflected in both its racialized nature and the dark- ness of the cells themselves; the degree of force within the SHU is experienced by the women through physical brutality and sexual violence; the space of the SHU is oppressively small; n228 mental stability is warped; the experience of passage of time is transformed; and communication flowing both into and out of the SHU is severely restricted. n229 There is also a connection between the massive expansion of the prison industrial complex and the SHU. The prison industrial complex is now so comprehensive and far-reaching that it distorts everything around it It creates a political system which thrives on the imple- ‘mentation of “tough on crime” measures and an economic system which relies ©on demonizing and terrorizing entire communities of people. As a result, our society is increasingly a “carceral” one; a high level of surveillance is present in all of our lives. The “endpoint of the evolution of a sufficiently massive” project such as the prison industrial complex s the imprisonment of entire communities
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 20 ind the isolation and dehumanization practices of the SHU. As concerned members of the national community. we must interrogate he stereotypes we receive from our govemment and through the media about minals and demand information about the status of prisoners in our nations" risons. We must recognize the importance of women in prison and commit our- elves (o organizing against their increasing incarceration. The silence around his issue and the increasing invisibility of women in prison will allow for he vast expansion of the prison industrial complex and the inflction of re- ression on greater numbers of women. As scholars, lawyers, activists, and esearchers, it is necessary to develop new directions for critical analyses of women’s imprisonment. This article is a contribution to that process. AS the rgument has outlined, the prison industrial complex affects women in unique ways. As advocates for prisoners, we must develop new ways of thinking about he gendered and racialized dimensions of imprisonment. If we fail to address he boom in the imprisonment rates of women and the increasingly repressive haracter of prisons, the devastating effects on women and their families and -ommunities will be impossible to overcome. FOOTNOTES: 1 Interview with Angela Tuckes, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (Feb. . 1998). 12 Most ofthe factual statements inthis atice are based on information gathered by the uthor during interviews with women incarcerated it the Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Ca. The names of inerviewees and the. ates of interviews have been alered 0 protect he privacy and safety of the women. Specific information has been included oaly with the: pecmission of the women interviewed. 3 See Bureau of Justice US. Dep’tof Jusice, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice uatisics--1996 516 fig 6.2, 33 1ls 6.35.6.36 1997) (hereinafer Sourcebook]: see also John Irwin & James Austin I’s About Time: America’s Imprisonment Binge (24. d. 1997). 4 See genecally Katherine Becett, Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Poitics (1997) (discussing the scendance of the gettough 1pprodch o crime) Color of Crime (1998). S See supra note 2 06 See supra note 2. A7 See supra note 2. 28 See supra note 2. 29 See supra note 2. 010 See supra noe 2 i1 See supra note 2. gencrally Katheryn K. Russll, The
21 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 12 See Russ Immarigeon, The Marionization of American Prisons, Nat. Prison Project L, Fall 1992.a01,1-2. u nI3Seeid. 14 See Daniel Burton-Rose, Buried Alive: New control uits put prisoners in extreme isola- tion, Boulder Wy, Jan. 6, 1997, at 8. b S See Immarigeon, supra note 12.a | [ 16 See generally Immarigeon, supra note 12,3 1 1 [ I i : 17 See id.at 2. I8 See Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 12 (discussing The Human Rights Watch report ‘on Prison Conditions in the United Stats). The history of USP Marion wll be covered in greater detail in a laer portion o this paper. Sce infra ext accompanying notes 133-37. 019 See generally Maria A. Luise, Note, Solitary Confinement: Legal and Psychological Considerations. 15 New Engl. 1. on Crim. & Civ. Confinement 301 (1989) (discussing the application of the Eighth Amendment (o olitary confinement). Generally,court focus on Whether prisonecs are denicd basic necessties when making a detcrminalion us (0 whether a condition amounts (0 cre and unusual punishment. See id.at 304. Psychological consid- erations are rarely take ioto account. See id. at 302. Conirast this with the court’s opinion ‘over one hundred years ago, n fo Re Medley, 134 US. 160 (1890),in which the court wrote bout the Walnu Stet i A conseable number of the prisonrs el cen s bt \ 3 confinement,into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next o impossible (o arouse them, and ohers became violeatly insane; others, till, comited sucide; while those who 5100d the ordeal better were not generaly reformed, and in mst cases did nof recover suf- ficient mental activity to be of any subscquent service ... It s within the memry of many. persons interested in prison discipline ... andits main eature of soitary confinemen was found 10 be too severe. Id.at 168. 120 See Immarigeon, supra note 12. at 3; Burton-Rose, supra not 14, at 8. 221 See, 5., Madrid v. Gomez, 889 F. Supp. 1146 (N.D.Cal. 1995). Chief Judge Thelion Henderson ruled that solitary confinement of certin subgroups. including mentaly il pis- ners, violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment of the Eighth Amend- ment o the U.S. Constitution. See id.at 1279-80. This lawsuit was fled 0 behalf of male prisoners at Pelican Bay Stte Prison in Seeid.at 115, A substanial porion of the lawsauit concerned conditions i the SHU. See id.at 1227. One of the most disturbing. exampls of the brutal conditions in the Pelican Bay SHU concemed a mentally ll African- American man named Vaughn Dortch. See id.at 1166. Dortch was removed from his cell by | guards and placed in a bath of scalding hot water See . Guards scrubbed his burning body With a wire brush while making racist comments. S id. As a result of this reatment. he sus- ained third degree burms over cighty percent of his body. See id.at 1167. Opened in 989, Pelican Bay was designed us a state-of-the-art faciliy. See id. at 1155; se also Sally Mann Ramano, I the SHU Fits: Cruel and Unusual Punishment at California’ Pelican Bay Stae Prison, 45 Emory L.J. 1089 (1996). Though conditions in the SHU at Pelican Bay are similar o those in the SHU at Valley Stic, Pelican Bay SHU is operaied almast compleely by use of remoie control. See id. This means that prisoners never interact with other human beings,including guards,except when meals ae brought (o them. See id. a1 1102, Each prisoner exercses alone on a cement enclosed yard thesize of a dog run a a Kennel, See id.at 110203,
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2 22 See 18U S.CA. § 3626 (West 1997). 23 The Prison Litgation Reform Act (PLRA) was passed as rder 10 3 1996 Appropria- ons Bil. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 3626 (West 1997).Is provisions include: & two-year time limit n consent decrees; a limitation onthe power of Special Masters: and a cap on attoreys” s, reducing them 1o one third of what plaitis’ lawyers usually receive. Sec i. These rovisions make it vitually impossibl forlegal advocates o bring class action lawsuits 00 chalf o 24 Pub. L. No. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 (1996). 25 See supra note 2;see also Mary O"Melveny. Portrait of a UsS. Political Prison - The exington High Security Unit for Women, in Cages of Steel The Politcs of Imprisonment s the United Sttes 112, 112-22 (Ward Churchill & J.J. Vander Wall eds., 1992); Susan osenberg, Reflctions on Being Buricd Alive. in Cages of Seck: The Poliics of Imprison- pent in the United States 128, 128-30 (Ward Churchill & 1.. Vander Wall eds.. 1992). 26 See supra note 2. 27 See supra ote 2. 28 See supra note 2. 29 See supea note 2. 30 See Cal. Code Regs. . 15.§ 3287(6)b) (1997). 131 See supea note 2. 32 See supra note 2. 133 Iterview with Jean Davis, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Cal. (Mar. 6. 998): Interview with Melva Danicls. Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. 1998):Inerview with Bessie Reynolds, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chow- L (Mas. 6, 1998). 135 When guardsare caught engaging in “inappropriate behavior” with female inmates, they o usually ~walked of the yard." Thismeans thy are releved oftheir posta the prison. ften only 10 be transferred o another institution. See supra note 2. In many insances, this ransfe is to another women’s insiution. See supra note 2 This information i also based o the author’s commanication with th personnel office of the California Depariment of Comecions. 236 See supra note 2. 437 Inerview with Yvonne Smith. Vall Stae Priso for Women, in Chawehilla Cal. (Dec. 5.1997). 138 Inerview with Claudia Johason, Vally Stse Prison for Women.in Chowehi (Oct.30, 1997, 39 See id. 240 See id. i Seeid. 742 See Human Rights Waich. Cold Storage: Super Maximum Security Confinement in Indiana 52-56 (1997):see supra note 2. 43 See supra note 2. 44 Sce Sushma D, Taylor. Women Offenders and Reeniry lsues, . Prychoative Drugs. Jan.-Mar, 1996, 3 85.86. 245 See supra noe 2. cal
23 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 46 Interview with Claudia Johnson, Vlley State Prison for Women, in Chowchills, Cal, (Oct. 30, 1997 747 See id. 048 See id. 749 Interview with Denise Jones, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997); Interview with ulia Shaw, Vlley Stte Prison for Women, in Chowehilla,Cal. (Oct 30, 1997); Interview with Jean Davis, Valley Stte Prison for Women, in Chowehills, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997): Intrview with Robin Litle, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chow- chilla, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997). 50 Interview with Claudia Johnson, Valiey State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997). nS1 See d. 752 See supra nole 2. 03 See supra note 2. 54 See generuly Pat Carlen & Chris Tehaikovsky. Women in Prison, in Criminal Women 182, 182 (Pat Carlen ed.. 1985) (iscussing the regimes in women’s prisons). 0S5 See supra note 2. 16 See supra note 2. 057 See supra note 2. 58 See Start Grassian, The Psychopathologica Effects of Soitary Confinemen, 140 Am. 3. Psychiatry 1450, 1450 (1993). 159 See generally Phlis Chesler, Women and Madness 164 (1989) discussing the history of patrsrchal social construction of women’s menta llnesses). 760 See id. 161 See 2,000 Protest Mental Health Budget Cuts, L.A. Times, May 19, 1992,a 14. 62 See Califomia Department of Corrctions Daia Analyss Unit, Monihly Report o Eth- niciy (visited Apr. 15, 1998) <hitp:www.cde state.caus>. 063 See d. 764 Sec id 965 See Michel Foucault, Discipine and Punish: The Bith of the Prison (Alan Sheridan trans., Vintage Books 1979) discussing theories of punishment across the early modem and ‘modern periods). 66 See Dorothy MeClelan. Disparity i the Discipline of Male and Femsle Inmates in Texas Prisons, Women & Crim. Jus. 1., June 27,1994, ut 71-97. 067 See supra note 2. 068 See supra note 2. [ 169 See generaly Estclle B. Freedman, Their Sisters Keepers: Women’s Prison Reform in America, 1830-1930 (1981) (discussing Victorian ideology around the purity of white ‘women snd the function of prisons o develop sad maintain ). i 70 See supra note 2. 71 See gencrlly Kimberle Crenshaw, Demarginalising e Inesecion of Rce and Sex: [ [ A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrie, Feminist Theory and Antiracst Poliics, in | Feminist Legal Theory 443 (Frances E. Olsen ed., 1995) (discussing the ten- dency 10 treat race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysi).
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 24 hough Crenshaw speaks about Black women only, I extend this argument for purposes of y analysis (0 include Latinas and Native American wormea. 72 A more complex analysi, which incorporates and crtiques heteronormative notions of xuaity, is also warranied here. Homophobia plays a sigaificant olc in guards” expectations (and reactions to women prisoncrs. Unfortunalely,there is not cnough space in this paper include this analyss in suffcient detail. 73 See generally Juanita Diaz-Coto, Gender, Edhnicity, and the State: Laina and Latino vison Politics (1996) (discussing Latino/Latina prisoner politics) 74 Luana Ross, Healing While Imprisoned, Address Before the “Unfinished Liberation: olicing, Detention and Prisons” Conference a the Universiy of Colorado at Boulder (M. 5. 1998). 75 See supra note 2. 76 See supra note 2. 77 See supra note 2. 78 See suprs note 2. 79 See supra note 2. 80 See Valley State Prison for Women, Administraive Segregation/Security Housing Units. mate Orientation Pamphlet (n.d,) (on fle with authar) (hereinaer Iomate Orientation 82 See supra note 2. 84 Sec Inmate Orientation Pamphiet,supa note 80. 85 Interview with Denise Jones, Valley Sate Prison for Women. in Chowchilla, Cal. (Dec. . 1997). 186 See gencrally Patricia J. Williams, The Alchemy of Race and Rights 216-36 (1991). 187 See Fay Dowker & Glenn Good. From Alcatraz 1o Marion o Florence: Control Unit risonsinthe United Stats, in Cages of Sieel: The Politcs of Imprisoamen i the United States, supra note 25, at 131, 142, 188 Sce Erica Thompson & Jan Susker, Supermax Prisons: HighTech Dungeons and Mod- cn-Day Torture, in Criminal Injustce: Confroning the Prison Crisis 303, (Elihu Rosenblatt ., 1996) (citing Oversight Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Adminisration of Justce, 99th Cong. 33-39 (1985)). 289 See Russel P. Dobash ct al, The Imprisonment of Women 147 (1986). 190 See supra note 2. 091 Interview with Regina Moris. Valley State Prson for Women, in Chowchill, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997). 192 Interview with Teresa Brown, Valley Stai Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Cal. (Feb. 13, 1998). 093 Sce supra nole 2. 194 See supra noe 2. 095 See supra ok 2. 796 See Immarigeon, supra note 12,1 2:3 797 See Dan Morain, Califoria’s Prison Budget: Why s it so voracious?, L.A. Times, Oct. 19,1994, at AL AIS. 098 See d.
25 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 99 See Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 3 ) 100 See Burton-Rose.supra note 14,at 8. K R0} See Immarigeon.supra note 12,3 2. 102 See Dowker & Good, supra note 87, ut 131. 143 (quoting Steven Whitman, The Mari- o Penitentiary -It Should be Opened Up, Not Locked Down. S linoisian, Aug. 7, 1988, 2t § 25) 1 nteresting 10 note that Arons does no refer [0 acts, but 0 atitudes. See id. [ 103 See Robert Perkinson, Shackled Justice. in Criminal Injustice: Confroniing the Prison Criss, supra noe 88, at 334, 35. 1104 See The Prison Discipline Sty: Exposing the Myth of Humane Imprisonment the United Stats, in Criminal Injutice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, supra note 88, 92.97. Jailhouse lawyers hlp other prisoners, many of whom are illterse, to participate in formal grievance and appesl procedures both within the prison and n the cours” Id at 92. ! 105 See id. a1 96 b1, 97 1.7 - 106 See id. st 96 tbL.5. This repor was bused on responscs fo. questionnaire distributed nationally o prisoners, prison adminisrators, guards, and (o prisoners’family members and visitors, See id.at 92. 107 See supra note 2. 108 Interview with Patricia Smith, Valley State Prison for Wome. in Chowehill, Cal. (Apr. 15.1997). 0109 See d. D110 See id. ! 0111 Interview with Denise Joncs, Valley Stae Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (June 5.1997). nli2Seeid. 113 See id. The paties in ths lawsuit are being kept anonymous (0 protect the prisoner’s safety nll4 Seeid. 115 See id, There is o other such program at this insittion. n16 Seed. ‘17 Interview with Denise Jones, Valey State Prison for Women,in Chowehilla, Ca. (June 5,1990). nl18 Seeid. 119 See Cal. Code Regs.tit. 15. § 3320 (1997). 120 Seeid 121 Interview with Denise Jones, Valey Sta Prison for Women,in Chowchill, Cl. (June 5,1997). 0122 See Cal. Code Regs. i, 15, § 3335 (1997). D123 See supra noe 2. 0124 See generaly Foucault, supra noie 65, instiutions”. 125 See gencraly i se also I re Mediey, 134 US. 160, 17 (1890) describing soliary | confinement as “punishment of the most important and painful character”). E 126 See generaly Mike Ryan. Solitude as Counerinsurgency - The US. Isolation Model of Political Incarceration, in Cages of Stel: The Politis o Imprisonment in the Urited Stats. supra note 25, at 83 discassing prison isoation). 3536 (discussing “complete and austere
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2 127 See id. 1 84-85. 128 Secid. a1 92. 129 See id. a1 92-94. 130 See d. t 94 (citing James V. McConnel, Criminals can be Brainwashed Now, Psy- bol. Today, Apr. 1970, at 18, 74). 131 See id. a1 96-98. 132 See Bill Dunne. The U.S. Prison at Marion, Ilinois: An Instrument of Oppression. in “ages of Stecl: The Politics of Imprisonment in the United States, supra noe 25. at 38; see 150 Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 1-2. 133 See Immarigeon, supra note 12.at 1-2. 134 See Dunne, supra note 132, at 38. A lockdown means that the prisoners are confined to hei cells 24 hours aday without human contact. See id. at 52 s also Immarigeon, supra ote 12, 1. 7135 See Dunnc. supra note 132, 3t 78. 1136 See Ray luc Levasser & Daniel Burton-Rose, From USP Marion to ADX Florence And Back Again),in The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry 00, 205 (Daniel Burton-Rose et l. ds., 1998), 1137 See O"Melvensy, supra note 25, a 112. 138 See id.at 114-16. 139 See id.at 113-14, 1140 Sec Roscaberg. supra note 25, a 128. 141 Sce Dr. Richard Kom, Excerpt from - Report oa the Effcts of Confinement in the exinglon High Security Unit, in Cages of Siel: The Politics of Imprisonment i the United States, supra note 25, at 123, 123, 1142 See Rosenberg. supra noie 25. a 128, 143 See 184 See 1145 See O"Melveny, supra note 25, at 117-19. 0146 See d. at 118 (citing Baraklini v. Meesc, 691 F. Supp. 432 (D.D.C. 1988). 0147 See id. 1148 Sce Baraldini v. Thomburgh, 884 F24 615 (U.S. App. D.C. 1989). 1149 See O’Melveny, supra note 25, ¢ 119. 0150 See id. 0151 See id;see also supra note 2. n152 See Sourcebook. supra note 3, at 533 1b1.6.36; see also Barbara Bloom et ., Cener on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Women in California Prisons: Hidden Victims of the War on Drugs 3 (May 1994). N153 See Sourcebook, supra note 3, at 456 tb1.5.34. is based on the author’s own observations while alSS See id. 156 Interview with Luz Rodriquez, Vally Stae Prison for Wome, in Chowehil, Ca. (June 28, 1997); Inerview with Denise Jones, Valley State Prison for Women. in Chow- chil, Ca. (June 28, 1997): Interview with Harriet Lewis. Valley Stae Prison for Women. in
27 Ir’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor RIS See id. nIs8See id 0159 Sce supra note 2. 160 Iterview with Maria Hernandez, Valley Staie Prison for Women. (uly8, 1997). 161 A guard must ssue a verbal wari §3276(1990). 0162 Inerview with Maria Hernandez, Valley State Prison for Women. uly 8, 1997). 163 See id 164 Telephone Interview with Dr. Corey Weinsiein, California Prison Focus (Apr. 2, 1998). 0165 See 0166 This author’s expericnce as a visitor at CCWF. 0167 See Michael Taylor, Many States Curtailing Media Iterviews of Prisoners, SF. Chron., Jan. 10, 1996, st A12: Michacl Taylor,State Inmates Bared from Media Inerviews, S.F. Chron., Dec. 28, 1995, at 1. 168 See Taylor, Many States Curtailing Media Inerviews of Prisoners. supra note 167. 169 See Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Escavating the Future in Los Angeles 223 (1992). RIT0 See id.at 2262 nI7) Seeid. a1 2831 0172 See Peter Cassidy, Poice take a miliary tum, Boston Globe, Jan. 11, 1998, atC1,C2. nIT3Seeid. : RI74 See id. : D175 See id. | 176 See David Theo Goldberg, Surplus Populations: The Political Economy of Prisons, Paper prescnied to the “Unfinished Liberation: Policing, Detention and Prisons” Conference. at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Mar. 15, 1998) (on file with author), 0177 See Edward S. Herman, Privileged Depeadency and Waste: The military budget and our weapons culure. Z Magazine, Nov., 1997, at ‘ 41,41 ; DI78Seeid. 179 See Pauleti Thomas, Making Crime Pay: Triangle of Inerests Creates Infrastructure 1o Fight Lawlessness, Wall St.J.,May 12, 1994, at A1 AS. ‘180 See id. The phrase “prison industrial complex” was coined by Mike Davi. See Mike Davs, Hell factoris inthe fild: a prison-industial comples, Nation, Feb. 20, 1995, w 229, ‘Angela Davs has recently developed an expanded definition: The concept of the prison | indusirial complex .. aliempt (0 capture not only the phenomenal expansion of prisons and jails and the enormous increase in the numbers of people of color subjec t the surveillance - and supervision of the criminal justice system, but also th increasingly symbiotic elation- ship between the corporate structure and the prison industry. th relationship between corrc- ons and economic vialty in many commanitics, and the mounting politica influence of the comectional community. See Angela Y. Davis, Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Confict, Crime and Punishment, Changing Atitudes Toward (forthcoming n.d.. This suthor would 2dd 10 this the economic impact of miltarization i the United States and the ransformation of high-tech weaponry and military hardware for use n th prison industry. Chowehil first. See Cal. Code Regs. it 15, Chowet . Cal
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 28 81 Sce Sam Howe Verhovek, Texas Jail Video Puts Transfers Programs in Dout, N.Y. Fimes. Aug. 22, 1997, at AL 182 See supra note 2 1183 Thisis based on this authors own observations while visiting Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, Cal. 1184 See id. Guards wear camouflage despite the fact that VSPW is located i the aid, dusty Ceniral Valley of California. 0185 Sec id. 1186 See id. Eight guards at Corcoran State Prison were receatly indicted for violations of civil rights in a lawsuit rought on behalf of th family of prisoner who was shot o death by one of the guards. Sec Robert B. Gunnison, 8 Guards at Corcoran Indicted: Civil rights charges i siaying of inmat, S.F. Chron., Feb. 27, 1998, a | The guards were accused of eting up a series of “cockfights” between riva prisoncrs, beting on who would win, and fhen shooting one of the wo prisoners involved. See id. n187 See supra notes 3, 153-54 and accompanying text o188 See Irwin & Austin, supra not 3, at 139-52. 189 See id. a190 See Ken Silverscin & Alexander Cockbur, America’s Private Gulag, CounterPunch, Jan. 1-15, 1997, 1 1, 1. Corections Corporation of America s also involved in global expansion of s operation: the company currently operate prisons in Beitain and Ausirala. See id.at 2. 191 See id.at8. 192 See Thomas, supra note 179, at Al 0193 Sce Kevin Heliker, Expanding Prison Population Capt Jan. 19, 1995, a( BL. 0194 See 2195 See id. 0196 This image is now circulating in popular cultural representations of criminals, tough in a counter-hegemonic way. Se. .., Joe Davidson, Caged Curgo, Emerge, Oct. 1997, at 36, 39. While most images of criminals appear in popular culure as menacing black (male) bodies or surious black or laina (female) bodies,the image of a prisoner as property of the sute also circultes as a mode of radical citique. Emerge receatly published an aricle aboutprison labor illstrated with ful-page image of a black male body behind a barcode, epresening confinement behind prison bars, but also alluding (0 the commeifcaion of prisoners and thei labor Sec id. 2197 Sce supranote 2 0198 Sce Julie Browne, The Labor of Doing Time. in Criminal Injusice; Confronting the Prison Crisi. supra note 85, a 61. 68 19914, 200 See id a 66. 8201 See i a 7. 202 See supra note 2. 1203 See supra note 2. 204 See supra note 2. 1205 See Silversiein & Cockbum, supra note 190, at | tes Marketers, Wall St. 1.
29 Irs Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 206 See 4 7207 Sce Goldberg, supra note 176, It significan 10 ot tha i the same period, only one university cumpus was constructed. Sce id. In 1995, the stat budget for the Deparment of Corrections exceeded the budge for higher edueation in California. See Fox Buterfeld, New Prisons Cast Shadow Over Higher Education. N.Y, Times, Apr. 12, 1995, a 21. In 1980. 2% of the state budget was dedicated to correcions n Californis;in 1994 that percent- age rose 10 9%. See G. Pascal Zachary, Economist Say Prison Boom Will Take Toll, Wall St J-Sept. 29,1995, at B1. The Rand Corp.estimates that corrctions will consume 18% of the budget in 2002 f imprisonment continues at this pace. Se¢ id. 208 Calfornia now maintains four prisons for women. See Monthly Report o Edhiciy. Supra note 62, Califoria Institation for Women (CIW) i Frontera opened in 1952. See Cali- fornia Insitution for Women, Insituion Profile (1997). It s designed to hold 1026 women it now holds 1,706, Sec id. Thiry-five years luter,in 1987, Northern California Women’s Facility (NCWP) in Stockion opene. Sec Northern California Women’s Facility, Insttution Profile (1997). I was designed for 400 and holds 721. See id. This was quickly followed by Central Califormia Women’s Facility (CCWP) in Chowchillain 1990 and Valey State Prison for Women (VSPW)in Chowehila in 1995, See CentralCalifomia Women’s Facilty,Insti- {ution Profile (1997); Valle State Pison for Women, Chowchills, Insitution Profle (1997 CCWF was designed for 2,004 women, but holds 3,148 aad VSPW was designed for 1.980, but holds 2.960. See id. These prisons are located across the sieetfrom cach other in the Central Valley and ace the two largest women’ prisons in the world. See Prisons: Pressure, LA Times, Oct. 17. 1994, at AL, A21. CCWF proudly advertics this fact. Maerils issued by the prison announce it as “The Nation’s Largest Female Prison.” Sce supra noie 2. The rend toward decreasing the emphasis on rehabilitation and increasing repression in prisons reflected inthe names of these nsttutions. which have changed from “nsttution” (o “facil- ity" to “prison over a period of 40 years. It i imporant 0 note that these prisons areall located i isolated, rural areas, which makes viitsfrom children,other family members and frends iffcult. especially for those who are poor. See supra note 2. 1209 See Meda Chesney-Lind, Sentencing Women to Prison: Equality Without Justce, Pa- per presented at the Seventh National Roundiable on Women i Prison, American Uiversity, Washingon, D.C. Uune 17-20, 1993). 1210 See Sourcebook, supra note 3., S16 fig 6.2 n211 See Sourcebook, supra note 3, at S10 bL.6.11 see also. Marc Maver, Americans, Behind Bars ~A Comparison o Iniemational Ratesof Incarceration, n Cages of Secl: The Politcs of Imprisonment in the Urited States, supra note 25, s 22, 25 tbl.3. 1212 See Women in Society: Staisics on the Condition of Woaien, in Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Criss 130, 132 (Elihu Rosenblatt ¢d. 1996). In 1980, there were approximately 13,000 women n federal and state prisons. S id. By the end of 1992. that number had risen by almost 300%. Sec id. Tisris i largely tributable 1o the “war on drugs” i the 19805 and concomitant mandatory-minimu sentences and “thre strikes” Taws. See Angela Y. Davis. supra note 150, 1213 See generally Women, the Stte, and Welfare (Linda Greene ed., 1990) (discussing the “Feminization of Poverty” n214 See id Pr— - d xS
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 30 15 See Pairicia Williams, The Rooster’s Ege 185 (1995). 16 Sec Nancy Kurshan, Behind the Walls: The History aad Current Reality of Women’s prisonment, in Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, supra note 88. at 136, 53, 17 See generally Katheryn K. Russell, The Color of Crime 26-46 (1998) (iscussing hether rcial bias affectsthe informal stages o th criminal justce sysiem and thercby fects the formal stages™). 18 See supra not 62 and accompanying text; see also Bloo e a., supra note 152, at 3. ack women comprise sbout 35% of the Califomia population and Latinas comprise about 6% See id. 19 See Bloom et ., supra note 152, at 56 220 Sec generally Angela Davis. Race and Criminalizaton: Black Americans and the Pun- ament Indusiry. in The House that Race Builc 54 (Wahneema Lubiano ed. 1997) (discussing racism i the prison industial comples). 221 See generlly Irwin & Austi, supra noe 3, 47 (discussing perceptions of crime reulating in American political and populas tre). 222 The increase in incarceration has not had any significant impact on crime rates. hough violent crime did increase in the 1980s and Os,this was the same period in which imprisonment rates were a ther highest levels. ce Irwin & Austin, supea note 3, at 12-13. The liance on inflammatory and unnccessary hype about violent crime creates a demand o greater state surveillance and imprisonment for on-violent offenders. 223 See generally Margaret DeRosia, The Court o Last Resort: The Racialization of Jodies in America’s Most Wanted, Mediation forthcoming n.4). 224 See Hallye Jordan, *3 Strikes” Jamming Justice System, Jails, S.F. Daily 1., Jan. 1995, at 1; Ellot Currie, What’s Wrong with the Crime Bill. Nation. Jan. 31, 1994, at i8. 225 See generally Davis, supra note 230 (discussing racism in the emerging prison ndustrial complex). 1226 See Robin Anderson, Consumer Culure and TV Programming 196 (1995) (quot- g Ron Harris, Blacks Take Brunt of Drug War, L.A. Times, April 22, 1990, at AL A1). 1221 See generally 4 The Encyclopedia Americana Intemationl Edition 33-34 (1992); 4 Coller’s Encyclopedia 238-30 (1997). 4228 The prisoners ofien reer o, s “the hole.~ See supra note 2. 229 Seesupranote 2. - -rC IS
\s\ Blicy @’ \“\ Q’m g @ = * * * % & /‘ %, ppssae “The Boston Anarchist Black Cross functions as the defensive arm of focal anarchist struggles. We work to forge an organized support network for local activists in need and for folks behind bars. We seek the total abolition of prisons and work on projects in support of this cause. Boston ABC PO Box 230182 Boston, MA 02123 ‘bostonabe@riscup.net myspace.com/abcbosion South Chicago ABC ® Qe Zine Distro £ o por2n “Fomewood, IL 60430
It’s Like Living in a Black Hole:

Women of Color and Solitary

Confinement in the Prison
Industrial Complex

by Cassandra Shaylor

Used with permission of author. Originally appearing in New England
Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement, Summer 1998.
I It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

Angela Tucker awoke at six a.m. cowering in the comer of her cell.
shaking uncontrollably, unable tobreathe. A fifty-four year old African-Ameri-
can woman, Tucker suffers from hypertension, diabetes, and asthma. Though
she was confined alone in this cold, dark cell for six months, she finally had
reached her limit. She repeatedly called for guards to help her, but they refused
10 respond. A few hours later, she was subjected o a strip-search and taken out
of her cell to the shower, When she returned from the shower, she refused o re-
enter the cell. She begged to be placed in a larger space, to be put in a cell with
another prisoner. She explained that she was claustrophobic, and that since she
had been placed in solitary confinement both her blood pressure and her blood
sugar had risen to dangerous levels. Her pleas were ignored. Instead she was
confionted by a cadre of fourteen guards who threatened to use physical

force against her, including shooting her with rubber bullets,if she refused to
enter her cell. She chose to comply, but insisted that she be placed on the medi-
list. A couple of days later a psychiatric doctor came 1o
her cell and prescribed a combination of Prozac and Buspar, two psychotropic
‘medications, to cure her “anxiety problems.” She remains in solitary confine-
‘ment and has received no medical attention for her serious medical conditions.
As someone who has been in and out of the prison systems for fificen years, she
says, I thought | had seen most of what they can dish out. Bu this here s the
worst | never seen anything like it. Living in here is ike nothin’ you could ever
begin to imagine. I's like living in a black hole.” n1

Introduction
Angela Tucker's experience in solitary confinement in a women's
prison is not unique. 2 It reflects the increasing bruti

[

ity in prisons, particularly *

in prisons for women. This paper examines the emerging use of the control unit,

the prison within the prison, as the ltimate expression of the regulation of the
female body. often a racialized female body.

This paper is a challenge to the masculinist manner in which control units are
‘generally discussed. The analysis specifically addresses the gendered and racial-
ized use of the control unit and its effect on female bodies.

“This analysis explores the implications of state regulatory practices
that have resulted in an almost 400% increase in the rates of incarceration for
women since 1980, a large number of whom are women of color and who are
imprisoned for nonviolent, economic offenses. n3 This rise in incarceration is
tied 1o several interrelated factors: (1) a political economy that creates expend-
able populations and relies on sustained societal fear of crime and of certain

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2

asses of individuals as criminals; (2) inflammatory media and cultural repre-
ntations of criminality; and (3) legislative and judicial systems that cons
atly deploy a model of total punishment when dealing with citizens who fail
ive up to prescribed behavioral norms. nd

One of the largest women’s prisons in the world is Valley State Prison
r Women (VSPW) in Chowchilla, California. n5 This article draws upon the
thor’s experiences as an attomey working for women imprisoned at VSPW
d focuses in particular on women housed in the control unit, the Security
ousing Unit (SHU). As a staff attorney for a non-profit organization that pro-
des legal services for women prisoners, this author regularly conducts inter-
ews with women in California state prisons. Though this analysis is limited to
terviews of women prisoners in Califoria, California’s prison system is the
rgest in the country and contains the two largest women's prisons in the world.
6 As such, it provides a blueprint for the nation; thus, this analysis of control
nits s applicable to other prison systems as well.

This analysis of the prison is grounded in and shaped by the experi-
nces of women prisoners. This is especially important given the almost com-
lete silence around contemporary prisoners' perspectives. Although this article
oks at racialization practices and solitary confinement conditions for women
risoners, the analysis also draws connections between their experiences and the
olitical economy of the prison industrial complex as well as the larger history
£ solitary confinement practices.

Control Units

Control units represeat the penultimate synthesis of technology and
pace in the service of social control and dehumanization within the prison.

‘or women at VSPW, this punishment regime consists of twenty-three hours a
ay of isolation in cramped, cold, dark cells, sometimes involving total sensory
eprivation. 7 These cells are approximately eight feet by six feet, the size of
n average bathroom. n§ Women in the SHU are allowed nine hours outside a
veek. n9 This s the only opportunity they have to interact with other women.
110 Although the cells originally were designed with small windows, the insti-
ution recently blacked out these windows, n1 1 removing any sense of a world
utside.

Control units are also referred to as security housing units (SHU), vio-
ence control units (VCUS), or maxi-maxi facilites. n12 There is a frightening
rend in prison construction toward building separate “supermax” prisons, that
s, entire institutions modeled on the control unit. n13 Forty states, the

3 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

federal system, and the District of Columbia all have at least one control unit.
14 Women have generally been confined in control units ‘within already exist-
ing women's prisons, but the increasing brutalty in those institutions indicates
that female supermax fz ties are likely in the not-so-distant future. Whether
free-standing units within an existing institution, or prisons built specifically
for housing prisoners in solitary confinement, conditions in these spaces and
the effects on the individuals housed wi them are strikingly similar. The
expanding use of control units reflects the increasingly repressive character of
prisons. It is important to note that isolation and sensory eprivation are now
used to some degree in most penal institutions, including many county jails. 15
Control units are specifically designed for these purposes, n16 but many prisons -
do not require a separate unit to employ these tactics. a7

“This trend has been called the ‘Marionization’ of American prisons,
referring to the increasing brutality in prisons in general, many of which use the
control unit strategy and the repression at USP Marion as a model for policies
‘and practices. n18 The legal system periodically has determined that such con-
finement amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. n19 In the current political
climate of increasing state surveillance and punishment of women, however,
such violations of human rights are more systematic and routine. n20 Although
courts often find certain aspects of ary confinement unconstitutional, such
decisions are made insttution by institution: therefore, cach new prison requires
a new legal challenge. n21 Due to the recent passage of the prison Litigation
Reform Act (PLRA), n22 it is increasingly more difficult for prisoners’ lawyers
1o bring lawsuits on their behalf. 023 This is part of a rend by national policy
‘makers to limit the rights of prisoners. In light of recent repressive Congressio-
nal legislation against poor people in the United States, including the passage of
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,
also known as the “welfare reform act,” n24 it is not melodramatic to view the
PLRA as a calculated firs step toward dismantling civil rights in arenas outside -
of prison as well. Given the common national disdain for prisoners, such an as-
sault on civil rights can begin there.

‘Women in Control Units

Prisoners and advocates for prisoners see the increasing use of control
units as instruments of gender domination and torture. n25 As the provided
examples will illusrate, this s clearly the case at VSPW. Women prisoncrs are
political subjects and consequently do become aware of themselves. in his case
their actual physical bodies, as sites of political struggle and resistance. Women

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 4

o resis: they speak up; fight back; or participate in individual and class action
awsuits, which represent individual and collective challenges to the conditions
f their confinement. Such challenges, however, are viewed harshly and often
esult in confinement in the SHU, the sole objective of which seems to be to
reak women. Little else explains such oppressive structures within women's
risons.

According to the women interviewed by this author at VSPW, women
n the SHU are under constant surveillance and denied any privacy. n26 The
<ll doors are designed 1o allow guards to see in at all times. n27 This makes
he women extremely vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. Male guards
vatch women in the showers, often tuming off the water if the women com-
lain. 128 The toilets are located in the cells, within view of the guards, who
fien harass women while they are on the toilet. n29 When guards conduct pat
carches they are supposed 1o act in a professional manner and avoid embarrass-
ng inmates, n30 however, women prisoners report that male guards regularly
rope them with the palms of their hands. n31

‘Though male guards are not permitted to conduct stripscarches, they
ve often present when such searches occur. n32 The presence of this level of
exual harassment creates an environment which inevitably leads to even more.
crious sexual assault and abuse. A story was recently reported to this author
y three women in the institution about a woman who is housed in the SHU,
who was allegedly raped by a guard while living in general population. n33 The
ape resulted in pregnancy and because she refuses to have an abortion, she has
een sent 10 the SHU. 134 Due to their relative lack of power, women prisoners
e vulnerable 10 such attacks by guards. This is especially truc when they are
solated from other women. The sense of entilement male guards feel as a result
ftheir status in a masculinist institution within a patriarchal culture, coupled
vith the subordinated status of female prisoners as women and as “property of
he state,” promotes such abuse. The cult of silence preserved by the masculinist
uard culture protects guards from anything but the lightest disciplinary sanc-
ions. n35

Any time a women leaves her cell in the SHU -to take a shower, see:
legal vsitor, 0r 10 8010 court -she is handcuffed and strip-searched. n36
The women describe this process as nbearably humiliating and unnecessary.
Yvonne Smith, a twenty-one year old African-American prisoner confined to the
SHU because of a suicide attempt, said:

‘They don't do this because of “safety and security of the institution.”
5 It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

they do it for humiliation. Some of them really like it, There is nothing we can
do between our cells and the shower, no way we can pick anything up. They're
with us, watching us, the whole time. They are just tryin’ to break us down. n37

Claudia Johnson, a ifty-two year old white woman in the SHU, stated |
{hat she refuses o be stripped out. n38 The institution sends in an “extraction
Leam” to force the strip-search on her when she has (0 go (o court. 39 This
team consists of eight men in iot gear who enter her cell and hold her down
while a female guard rips off her clothes and conducts the search n their pres- -
ence. 140 Claudia Johnson reported that during the searches male guards make
Vulgar comments and threats, and they videotape each incident. nd1 |

“The use of extraction teams i a routine practce in supermax facili: *
ties; women are not exempt from it. n42 For women, however,this treatment
s uniquely traumatic because male guards usually perform the extraction. The
incidents are highly sexualized: women are rendered immobile, placed in a po-
Sition of extreme vulnerabilty,stripped of allof their clothing, and then subject-
ed 10 a full body search. n43 Because about sixty percent of women in prison
are survivors of some form of physical o sexual abuse, nda cel extracions for
many of them are not only traumatic in the moment, but result in a re-experienc-
ng of past rauma. 145 Claudia Johnson said, It is about humiliation and total
Joss of dignity, and I don't care what they call i, I call it rape.” 146

Johnson reported that when she first began o refuse to strip out, the
male guards locked her inthe cold shower for two days witho food, water or
a blanket 147 They periodically passed by the shower and yelled that when she
decided to comply with the strpsearch, they would give her food and water and
lether return to her cell. 148 Several other women who overheard the incident
corroborated her story. 149 Afte two days, the guards finally released her. 150 *
They now use the exiraction tea to force strip searches on her. 51

‘Control units are built without any concern for the detrimental effects
they have on the women within them. Soliary confinement has a particularly
devastating effect on mentaly ll women, many of whom are sent 10 the SHU
because they “act out” in general population as a result of their meaal lless.
152 Many women are prescribed psychotropic medications, but most receive
10 meaningful psychiaric reatment. n53 Within penal institutions, the medical-
zation model s widely used against women. n54 This author has iterviewed
women who can barly speak because they are so heavily drugged and has
been told about others who rarely move from their bunks because the medica-
ion virually immobitizes them, nSS Some women talk to themselves or yell
incessantly at their cell doors, while others experience paranoid delusions and

It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 6

allucinations, nS6 Many cover themselves in urine and feces. n57 These
ehaviors represent stages of psychological breakdown that have been ob-
erved in prisoners of war. n58 For these women, their own bodies become their
cimary sites of resistance. Unfortunately, this behavior perpetuates the guards™
erceptions of them as violent and legitimizes longer sentences in the SHU.
Such (mis)treatment is tied to commitment of women to mental institu-
jons as a form of social control, as well as the diagnosis of mental illness in
vomen who have rational, sane responses to injustices in their lives. n59 This
as historically been a tactic used more often against women than men. n60 For
hose women who do need mental health treatment, appropriate mental health
ntitutions and programs are increasingly non-existent, especially for poor
vomen. n61 Prisons become the spaces in which to warehouse these women,

Control Units for Women as Racialized Spaces

‘The prison is site for social control of all women, but solitary confine-
nent is a space reserved for particular women. Of the fifty-two women in the
HU at VSPW, 61.4 percent of them are women of color. n62 Over 40 percent
f the women are “Black,” 21 percent are “Hispanic/Mexican.” n63 and 5.9 per-
ent are categorized as other. n64 Though the dehumanization processes in the.
HU replicate that which happens in the larger prison, the purpose of which is
o produce docill bodies, n6S these processes are more extreme and have more:
etrimental effects on women housed in the SHU.

In general, discipline for women in prison is extremely harsh, especially
n comparison to discipline for men. n66 Women are far more likely than men
0 be sentenced to the SHU for minor infractions. n67 While men are confined
o control units for allegedly attacking guards, participating in gangs or selling
rugs in the institution, women are placed in the SHU for spitting at guards, for
ghting with other women, or for attempting suicide. n68 A central function
f prisons in general s to punish women who fail to subscribe to a model of
emininity that historically has been (re)produced in discourse as white, pure,
assive, heterosexual, and located in motherhood. n69 When women operate
utside of this model, cven slightly, they are disciplined harshly for doing so.
70

‘Women of color in prison face a double bind in this regard. As Kim-
erle Crenshaw points out, black women have never been perceived to fit this
escription of patriarchal notions about femininity, because racism denies them
ccess (o these norms. 71 Black women are prefigurcd as aggressive

7 I’ Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

‘and recalcitrant; guards, therefore. are predisposed to view them this way and
discipline them accordingly. n72 This analysis can be extended to Latinas and
Native American women in prison. Latinas are perceived to be loud and bel-
ligerent, sexually aggressive, or immigrants who are unabie (0 speak English.
73 Native American women are perceived as backward, savage and/or primi-
{ive. especially when they seek o preserve religious rights while imprisoned.
74 These views of women of color rely on stereotypes of white femininity as a
‘model against which to judge “other” women.

‘Beyond the racist politics of the SHU, as represented by the dispro-
‘portionate confinement of women of color there, the dehumanization practices
that take place within it in can also be read as racialized. Women are degraded,
sexually humiliated, and denied minimal medical care and any meaningful hu-
‘man contact. n75 Women are often denied basic necessities, such as food and
hygiene supplies. n76 They are made to beg for sanitary napkins and toilet pa-
per and are often told during the last week of the month that the prison has “run
out.™ n77 Such practices resonate with larger ‘histories of racism that dehuman-
ize people of color.

“The institution consistently deploys racially coded discourses when in-
teracting with the women in the SHU. Guards regularly accuse women of being
dangerous, manipulative, or malingering, especially when women seek medical
treatment. n78 Guards speak to and about the women as though they are sub-
human, 079 A pamphlet, produced by the Warden's office, s given to women
‘when they enter the SHU and lsts times for daily “feedings.” n80 Guards con-
stantly use racial epithets, many of which are gendered. to refer to the women.
They call the prisoners “dogs,” “niggers,” “bitches,” “whores” and “black.
‘bitches;” women refer o their cells as “cages.” n81 When women are denied
pri
in the SHU amount to very litle, but include: showers three times a week; pos-
session of propeny, like writing implements and paper; time spent outside; and.
‘permission to purchase hygiene supplies from the commissary. n83 All of these
are rights accorded to women by law, n84 but the nstitution often withholds
them as punishment, transforming them into "privileges.” Denise Jones stated:
““They treat us like animals. No, you wouldn't treat an animal the way they do
us here. 1 am sure they don't reat their dogs the way they treat us.” n8S

The consistent relegation of women prisoners to a subhuman status
reflects the intertwined histories of the subjugation of women and the dehu-
manization of people of color. Control units are designed to remove agency and
humanity from people they targe?. The fostering of a perception of prisoners as
less than human allows state employees to deny the women any semblance of

ges,they are put on what guards refer to as “dog status.” n82 “Privileges” *

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 8

ignity and to abuse them without compunction. This discourse of subhumanity
kes connections to slavery and the manner in which slaves were dehuman-
zed in order for slave owners 1o reat them like chattel. The economy of the
rison is fueled by such notions, as women bodies can be more easily reduced
o the mere property of the state. n86

Purposes of the Control Unit

One purpose offered by the state for control units is the reduction of
iolence within the prison. n87 The realiy is that in 1985 a Congressional
versight Committee found that eighty percent of people housed in the Marion
“ontrol Unit did not require such a high level of security. n88 Research in¢
ates that women are more prone (o violent behavior as a result of confinement
n solitary units, but violence against themselves. n89 Many women in solitary
onfinement release their frustration and anger by engaging in self-harming
sehavior, including suicide attempts and selfmutilation. n90 Regina Morris, an
African-American woman housed in the SHU, has multiple scars on her wrists
ind arms from this selfabuse. n91 Teresa Brown, another African-American
voman in solitary confinement, explained why she had recently slit her wrists:
I have asthma, and | just couldn't take it bein® locked up like that. They wasn't
istenin’to me when I couldn’t breathe. | couldn’t take it anymore. I needed
ome relief.” n92 Confinement in the SHU has devastating psychological ef-
ects on most women housed there. n93 Extended periods of dleness and social
solation result in vicious mood swings, crying spells, and intense feelings of
aranoia. n94 Many women express fear that their confinement will make it
nore difficult or them to adjust to placement in general prison population or to
fe outside of prison. n95 The effect of rendering women unable to function in
he world outside of prison increases the likelihood of recidivism, which in turn
rovides a constant source of reveaue for the prison system. The fact that prison
uthorities expect women to commit crimes when they leave prison can be used
o justify the maintenance of prisons as harsh and brutal places.

‘A second professed reason for control units s to reduce expenses -isola-
jon means fewer people allowed access to vocational and educational programs
nd 1o rehabiltative. religious and recreational services. n96 Diminished access
o these programs in control units is linked to the trend of dismantling programs
n the prison system in general. n97 This move away from rehabilitation and
oward punishment is now the prevailing trend in prison administration. n98
“ontrol units are one part o this move toward repression and brutality. The
eality is that expenses are not reduced as a result of the introduction of control
nits. It

9 In’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

i actually much more expensive to maintain control units than those units that
house the general population. because of the level of security involved and the
increase in health-related expenses. 99 llinois and Wisconsin have recently
begun constructing their first “Supermax” facilities at a cost of sixty million and
ninety million dollars respectively. n100 Each control unit cell costs $ 74,000 to
build. 101

A deeper look reveals other, more disturbing and probably more accu-
rate, readings of the purpose of control units. Former Warden of USP Marion,
Ralph Arons has stated: “*The purpose of the Marion Control Unit is to control
revolutionary attitudes in the prison system and in the society at large. n102
There is an interesting connection between Arons' statement and history -the
first control unit opened at Marion in 1972, one year after the Atiica uprising in
New York. nl03

‘A 1989 Prison Discipline Study found that the most common disciplin-
ing strategy used against jailhouse lawyers was solitary confinement. n104 This
study found that jailhouse lawyers were fouind to be by far the largest number
of those in control unts. n105 Other categories of prisoners who were found
10 be placed in solitary confinement in disproportionate numbers were: blacks
mentally disabled individuals, gang members. political prisoners. Latinos, gays
and lesbians, and people with AIDS. n106 ‘

Many prisoners are sent to control units for filing grievances or organiz-
ing other prisoners to respond to prison conditions. n107 Patricia Smith reported
that she was sent to the SHU for retaliating against a guard who had repeatedly
forced her to have sex with him. n108 She filed an inmate grievance against
him; he responded with a 115, which is a serious disciplinary write-up, claim-
ing that she attacked him. n109 That “115” resulted in a SHU sentence. al10 .

Denise Jones is a thirty-three year old African-American woman at
'VSPW who came to prison as an eighteen year old and has been incarcerated
for fifteen years. nl 11 In 1996, she was brutally beaten by a male guard while
his superior officer watched. n112 She filed a civil rights lawsuit against the
‘guards involved. n113 She has repeatedly received threats and harassment as a
tesult. n114 She recently organized an HIV peer education group in the prison.
115 These were women who were commited to educating themselves, leading
‘workshops and producing theater pieces about HIV prevention and treatment
on all four of the prison yards. n116 According to Jones, several of the guards
1old her they did not like the level of freedom she now had in the facility. n117
She explained that on the night before her peer education theater group began
rehearsals for their performance, she was taken (0 administrative segregation

1t's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 10

ending an investigation into her alleged drug trafficking apparently a trumped
p charge. n118 In her udministrative hearing before the Instittional Classifica-
on Committee, Jones had no right (0 an attomey and no right (o have witnesses
stify on her behalf. n119 She was allowed 10 collect witness statements, but

s presiding officer did not have (0 take those statements into account. n120
here was no evidence presented against her, and another woman who actually
onfessed o the “crime” was released to general population. ni21 Prison of-
cials sentence people to serve time in the SHU, not courts of law. n122 Denise
now serving one year in the SHU, n123 clearly as a result of her organizing
ctivities and her willingness to fight back against guards who brutalized her.

‘The History of the SHU

These cases are only two of many that illustrate the importance of
ncovering the increasing and hidden use of the control it as a disciplining.
trategy of the prison. particularly against women of color. In order to under-
tand the growing trend toward repression in women’s prisons, tis important (o
iscuss the history out of which the SHU at VSPW arose. Solitary confinement
vas introduced in 1829 by Quakers, who believed isolation and self-reflection
vould promote penitence and reform. 124 It quickly became apparent that
nstead, such isolation often led to mental breakdown. n125 As a result,solitary
onfinement was abandoned as a general practice; however, it emains a method
f social control against specific prisoners. n126 In the 1950s and 1960s, Dr.
Sdgar Schein of Massachusets Institute of Technology conducted rescarch on
he Chinese model of “reeducation” deployed by Koreans against U.S. Prison-
15 of War. n127 From interviews with American servicemen repatriated (0 the
J.S., he distlled a model of mind control that he then presented to key repre-
entatives from the Bureau of Prisons at a conference in 1962 n128
Transcripts from his speech and the discussion following reveal interest on the
art of prison officials in using the research to suppress the beliefs and organiz-
ng efforts of Black Muslims and conscientious objectors. n129 In 1970, Dr.
ames V. McConnell published an article entitled “Criminals Can Be Brain-
washed Now," in which he argued for the application of sensory and perceptual
seprivation and social isolation to prisoners. n130 During the 1970s, numerous
sehavior modificati US prisons which imple-
mented these strategies, sometimes combined with use of psychotropic medica-
ions. n131

‘The first control unit prison emerged in 1983 at USP Marion, a federal

11 Ir's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

prison for men in llinois. n132 USP Marion became the model for the cur-
fent wave of control units and solitary confinemen strategjes throughou the
country. n133 Ostensibly in response to a violent incident, the entire prison was
locked down. n134 That lockdown has never been lified, effectively transform-
ing the entire prison into a control unit. n135 The tactics developed at Marion
have been applied at prisons all over the country. These tactics were instru-
‘mental in the design of the hightech federal control unit at Florence, Colorado,
‘which houses 550 people in permanently locked down cells. n136

‘The only control unit specifically designed for women political prison-
ers was opened at Lexington Federal Prison in Kentucky in 1986. n137 The unit
employed multiple tactics to destroy the women’s senses of self and 1o break
down their political convictions through sensory deprivation and small-group
isolation. n138 The unit housed three political prisoners: Alejandrina Torres,
Puerto Rican independentista; Susan Rosenberg. North American
anti-imperialist; and Silvia Baraldini, ltlian national and anti-imperialist.n139
‘The structure was built underground and the interior was entirely white, n140
which resulted in reports from the women of hallucinations of black spots and
strings on the walls and floors. n141 The women were made to wear large,
shapeless clothing and were forbidden to hang anything on the white walls.
n142 What little contact they had with their jailers was often in the form of
disembodied voices addressing them through loud speakers. n143 They had
only occasional contact with the outside, mostly with their lawyers. n144 After
an intense campaign waged by a broad coalition of concerned people, the unit
‘was shut down in 1988. n145 The legal decision was based on the political
nature of the placements -the court determined that the women were housed
there as a result of their political beliefs and that such placement was uncon-
stitutional. n146 Although the courts came close to admitting that there are
political prisoners in the United States, the decision did not declare that such
treatment rises to the level of cruel and unusual punishment. n147 The decision
was undermined when the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that prisons are free to
use political associations and beliefs to justify different and harsher treatment
148 Since Lexington closed, other units, modeled on Lexington, have opened
in other parts of the country. n149 Women in the federal prison at Marianna,
Florida, for example, and other prisons across the country. are reporting increas-
ingly brutal, similar conditions. n150 Where once such units housed mostly po-
litical prisoners. now all prisoners are potentially subject to this level of social
control. 151

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2

Current Trends in Prison Construction

VSPW is the newest and most repressive women’s prison, representing
current model in prison construction and the increasingly brutal conditions
prisons. The design incorporates some of the most disturbing examples of
odern prison technology, despite the fact that women are rarely violent in
ison. The vast majority of women (approximately eighty percent) are impris-
ned for non-violent offenses. n152 Approximately sixty percent of the women
e serving time for drug-related offenses, most often for the mere possession of
rugs. n153 There have been no recent escape atiempts by women prisoners in
aliforia and no organized sustained violent uprisings. Valley State is
yrrounded on all sides by two thirty foot-high barbed wire fences topped with
uge coils of razor wire. n154 Despit the presence of a guard in the watchtow-
r with a high-powered rifle and the reality that these fences would be physical-
impossible for an escaping prisoner (o cross without being slashed to bits, the
astitution erected an electric fence that stands between them. 155 The fence
as enough clectricity coursing through it to kill small animals. n156 Sometimes
omen prisoners are forced to clean dead birds out of the fence. nl57 Women
ave described this chore as a form of psychological torture because they know
rat the guards regard them with utter disdain, and they fear the guards might be.
rclined to “forget” to tum off the electric current. n158 These technologies and
he ways in which they are deployed against the women are not designed for the,
afety of the institution, but instead are used mainly to
nduce fear in women.

Prisoners are often used as human trials for new technologies prior o
dequate testing. New “beanbag” bullets were recently introduced in Califomia
risons. n159 Maria Hemandez, a woman imprisoned at VSPW, was the test
ase for these bullets. n160 In direct violation of protocols conceming the use of
hese weapons, n161 a guard fired directly into her back. The bullets exploded
n impact, bore into and bumed her skin, leaving large and permanent scars
o her back. 0162 In the first week that these bullets were used at VSPW, five
vomen were shot with them. 0163

In addition to using prisoners as human trials, new security systems are.
ing tested on those who visit the prison. There are plans to place x-ray ma-
nes in the visitor centers in all Califomia prisons within the next year. n164
Vo lead vests are provided, despite the fact that these machines commonly are
inderstood to be carcinogenic and can cause birth defects and genetic damage.
165 Unlike x-rays performed during a dental examination, which is a localized
ow dose of radiation, these devices require the visitor to pass through

13 It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

three times in order to check the entire body. n166 This exposes the vi
an excessive amount of radiation. Such technology contributes to the
of fear around prisoners; the public is made to believe that such measures are
necessary. These devices serve to erect yet another barrier (0 visitors from the
outside, contributing both to the isolation of prisoners and the secrecy around
the brutaliy of prison life.

There is currently a state enforced media ban against face-toface inter-
views of prisoners by journalists. nl67 This ban is part of a growing national
trend to prevent representatives of the media from interviewing prisoncrs. nl68
‘This insures that only prisoners and their supporters are witness to the brutality
of prisons, thus denying the larger public information about the reality of prison
conditions. This lack of information makes it much easier for people to believe
in stereotypes about criminals and to se themselves as separate from them.
Because of the current state of secrecy around prisons, it is necessary 10 have
‘personal communications with prisoners in order to uncover at least some
of what s happening inside.

‘The Emerging Prison Industrial Complex

The growing isolation of prisoners through the use of the control unit
and the isolation of knowledge about prison life facilitated by state sponsored
actions like the media ban, are reinforced by strategies of isolation deployed
outside of prison. In City of Quartz, Mike Davis identifies a new “fortress™
mentality that informs urban spaces and planning practices. n169 As a result of
this mentality. poor communities of color are increasingly isolated from wealthy
‘white neighborhoods, through planned “gated communities” with high-tech se-
curity systems. n170 Repressive policing tactics in poor neighborhoods result in
the cordoning off of people of color into areas of extreme poverty and isolation.
ol

The level of repression in the emerging isolationist model both within
and outside of the prison is tied to the economic and political effects of the
national investment in the military industrial complex. This investment in
militarism increasingly informs policing and imprisonment practices. The US
government is currently selling surplus surveillance equipment and weapons.
including tanks, to police departments in cities in the U.S. n172 In 1997, law
enforcement agencies purchased 1.2 million pieces of military hardware from
the Department of Defense. n173 Communities as small as 75.000 people are
‘policed by officers in full rot gear riding in armored personnel carriers. n174
Black urban neighborhoods are the most frequently targeted arcas for this para-
military activity. n175

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor iz

Though military bases in California have closed in the last ten years
Jmost a the same rate that prisons opened. 176 the illusion of the demilitar-
zation of the defense industry disguises the reality of 2 continuous military
wildup. The military budget still enjoys a privileged position in United States
sovernment spending; President Clinton’s 1998 proposed discretionary budget
ncludes $ 265 billion for the military. n177 The distant second in allocation
» funds is education: approximately thirty-one billion dollars. n178 In this
post-Cold War era, the military buildup now stretches to domains outside of
he traditional military purview, like prisons. High-tech weaponry and military
hardware are modified for use in the prison industry. n179 Along with smallet
companies, former defense contractors like Westinghouse and General Dynam-
cs are now designing prison technology in the service of expanding the military
industrial complex through the development of a prison industrial complex.
180

Corrections officials and guards now take a wholly combative stance 10~
ward prisoners, rather than a rehabilitative or even a custodial one. They receive
training in military combat techniques and the use of high tech weapons.
One recent example of this growing militarism is the videotape of the “training”
in a private prison in Texas which showed guards brutalizing prisoners. n181
Every aspect of guard culture is modeled on the military. Guards dress in
fatigues and combat boots and subscribe o a military hierarchy. At VSPW,
guards force women (o march in single file lines around the prison. n182 In the
administration building at VSPW, a trophy case in the lobby contains memora-
bilia of the Special Emergency Response Unit (SERT), a cadre of guards who
are trained in special military techniques to be used in criis sitvations at VSPW.
1183 A photograph of this unit shows twelve men in camouflage fatigues and
grey berets. n184 In place of the patch that usually reads “Army,” is a pach
which says “VSPW." nl85 The trophy case also contains a plaque, with a bullet
casing attached o it inscribed with the name of the “Top Gun.” the most skilled
“sharpshooter" in the unit. n186

‘The growing militarism in prison does not result from an actual need
for such excessive punishment -after al, as already stated, cighty percent of
‘women are in prison for non-violent offenses and a vast majority of them are
never violent within the prison. n187 Prisons on the whole do not reduce vio-
lence. n188 Despite the imprisonment binge, the rate of violent crime has in fact
remained steady. n189 Prisons do perpetuate violence, however, in the form of
destruction of families, and in the wholesale destruction of economic and politi-
cal power in the communities in which those families live. Prisons also provide
economic opportunites for corporate and government systems, which thrive on

1S It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

the violence they perpetuate againss those communities.

A central example of corporate involvement in the prison industrial
‘complex is the Corrections Corporation of America. It is currently the most
profitable company in the privately-run prison industry. n190 American Ex-
press and General Electric have contributed o private prison construction.

191 Financial powerhouses, such as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.. Smith Bamey
Shearson, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co. are currently underwriting prison
construction through the sale of private, tax-free bonds which require no voter
approval. n192 Furthermore, the construction industry is not the only private
interest profiting from prisons. Everything from Dial Soap to AT&T is marketed
1o corrections officials. n193 Health care companies and food service providers
compete for lucrative prison contracts. 194

Annual expositions provide a forum for companies to market products
ranging from stun guns to razor wire. A startling example of such technology is
2 computer tracking system designed by QueTel Corp., which would require
institutions to issue scanners to guards and attach bar codes to prisoners. 095
The introduction of a device such as a bar code is the ultimate material semiotic
manifestation of the marriage of economy and technology in the prison-the:
prisoner’s body symbolically inscribed as commodity. n196

Perhaps most disturbing about this political economy is the growing
exploitation of prison labor. As growing numbers of women are arrested and
imprisoned, they increasingly become a part of this exploited class of laborers.
Prisoners work to produce shrink wrap packages for Microsoft and handle reser-
vations for TWA. n197 California voters passed Proposition 139, the Inmate
Labor Initiative of 1990, 0198 which paved the way for inmates to
be leased out to private industry, reinstating slavery through the explicit repeal
of the principle that prison work would be voluntary. The initiative states in
part: “The people of the State of California find and declare that inmates who
are confined in state prison or county jals should work as hard as taxpayers
for ipkeep, and that those inmates may be required to perform work and
services." n199

In California, a semi-autonomous state agency called the Prison Indus-
try Authority (PIA) was created to make industries within the prison self-sus-
taining and profitable. n200 The PIA mission statement no longer refers
rehabilitation or training; it focuses only on maximizing profits. n201 Ultimate-
1y, prisoners find that they do not learn marketable skill in prison and are rarely
able to find jobs similar to the ones they performed inside (or any job atall, for
that matter). A gendered division of labor exists within prison industries:
women have generally worked in laundry. pholstery. fabric production and data

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It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 16

while men have worked in metal and wood production, automative shops,
iries and slaughterhouses. n202 At VSPW, women prisoners produce eye-
asses for LensCrafters through PIA-Optical. 1203 These women are. paid less.
an one dollar an hour, are forced to work overtime or risk losing their
bs, and are prevented from organizing against dangerous and exploitative
ork conditions. n204

Prison labor practices in the United States are analogous t0 neo-imperi-
transnational corporate practices in the world outside. The hypermobility
capital creates large populations of unemployed free people in the United
ates. Corporations can seek out low-cost laborers: prisoners provide such
cap, local labor power. The resalt is the commodification of prisoners; not
Ay i their labor commodified, but their very bodies now represet profits.
hese bodies, most often racialized and increasingly female, are bought and
1d on the stock market, as the prison industry requires a steady supply 1o
Aintain profits. This demand for prisoners is met through public policy deci-
ons which encourage the incarceration of greater numbers of people. Prison
bor represents the ultimate alienated labor; for prisoners there is no longer
ven the illusion of choice. The disregard for the humanity of imprisoned
omen and men, and the unadulterated joy in the possibility of profiting at their
(pense is summed up in a brochure for a conference on private prisons. n205
his conference was organized by the World Research Group, a New York-
ased investment firm, whose marketing motto was: “While arrests and convic-
ons are steadily on the rise, profits are to be made profits from crime. Get in on
e ground floor of this booming industry now!” n206

Race, Gender and the Prison Boom

The material reality of this “booming industry” is the proliferation of
cisons. In the las ten years, twenty prisons have been built in California. 1207
hree were prisons for women. n208 This expansion is part of a national
istorical trend, Though only two or three women's prisons were built per de-
ade between 1930 and 1950, there were seven bui the 1960s, seventeen in
he 19705, and thirty-four in the 1980s. 1209 Scholars and activists who address
ésues of imprisonment seldom acknowledge the expanding population of wom-
n prisoners and the proliferation of women's prisons. This expansion is not
nsignificant: while the number of men in prison has doubled in the last decade,
he number of women has more than tripled. n210 Thus, women play an ever-
rowing role in the increasingly profitable punishment industry, an industry in
which the financial stakes are incredibly high.

The United States now incarcerates approximaely two million people.

17 Ir's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

a number equivalent to the population of a large city and more than any other
industrialized country in the world. n211 Though women comprise only about
7.37 percent of those incarcerated, or about 113,000 people, they are the fastest
growing population in prison. n212 Prisons today constitute elaborate ware-
housing systems into which members of the expendable classes, such as the
poor, unemployed, homeless, mentally il, and drug-dependent. are dumped.
“The defunding of social services and the effects of global capitalism
contribute 10 the impoverishment of greater numbers of people, n213 an in-
creasing number of whom are women of color and poor women of all ethnic
backgrounds. n214 Racist notions about women are discursively produced .
outside of, as well as within, the prison system, contributing 10 a damaging .
environment, specifically for women of color. Consistently, women of color
are stereotyped as hyper-sexualized females, excessively reproductive welfare
recipients and/or crack addicts. n215 As a consequence, they are targeted for
surveillance and monitoring by the police and child protective services. They
are disproportionately amested, convicted, and incarcerated for crimes such as
prostitution, petty theft, embezzlement, and drug possession and sales. n216
Prevailing political investments in “tough on crime" measures result in
Longer, harsher sentences that discriminately affect commanities of color. n217
As a result, the prison itself is increasingly a racialized space, thus, affecting
‘women in unique ways. Approximately thirty-five percent of women in prison
are African-American and twenty-four percent Latina, numbers significantly
larger than their respective representation i national demographics. n218 About
cighty-percent of these women have at least two children. n219 Thus, tere s
also a largely unexamined impact on communities of color, especially children
in those communities, who are also effected by the “imprisonment binge".
Historically, fear has played an important role in the perpetuation of
racism, and remains vital to the anti-crime thetoric now circulating in the na- -
tional imaginary. n220 Media and cultural representations of criminality pander
to racial stereotypes of criminals and perpetuate the false notion that crime is
everywhere at all times. Despite the fact that violent crime constitutes only
twelve percent of all crime, it is repeatedly headlined in mainsiream, corporate- .
sponsored print media and nightly news programs. n221 Research indicates
that individuals who are least likely o be affected by crime are those who are
‘most afaid of it. 1222 Reality-based television programs like Cops and Amer- -
ica’s Most Wanted conflate news and entertainment and contribute to national
paranoia about the omnipresence of crime. 1223 These media practices, which
create and sustain fear of crime, are closely tied to the creation of public policy
and government funding decisions, like the passage of the 1995 Crime Bill or

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 18

e California Three Strikes Initiative. n224 Ideas about the ease of prison life

re cultivated in order (o legitimize increasingly brutal prison conditions and
unishment practices. Misperceptions about the availability of rehabilitation

o prison belie the reality that a regime of punishment has completely replaced
ven the slightest gesture toward rehabilitation. As Angela Davis has argued, the
revailing racist logic allows for the assumed criminality of black and brown
eople, rather than the recogaition that the inordinately high number of incar-
erated people of color is evidence of structural racism. 1225

Imprisoning America

The rise in incarceration and the increasing repression in prisons is
onnected to the economic and political restructuring of America. In order o
inderstand what that political project entais, it is necessary t0 unmask the ways
i which the prison remains excluded from the rest of society because itis 3
acialized space. As police chief of Atanta, Eldrin Bell asks:

1f we started to put white America in jail at the same rate that we're
putting black America in jail, I wonder whether our collective feclings would be
the same, o would we be putting pressure on the President and our clected
officials not to lock up America, but to save America? 1226

Though Bell's statement reinscribes a black/white dichotomy that fails
(o fully address the racial constitution of the prison, the sentiment it expresses is
extremely important. He describes two Americas, black and
white. This author would argue that what s also relevant in his statement is the
division between two other notions of America -on inside and one outside.
Through the space of the prison, there is a contest over what it means (0 be
American. Racism is a constitutive piece of this construction.

‘When individuals are imprisoned, they are no longer considered nation-
al subjects; they lose most of their rights as citizens and are thus perceived (o be
outside of the national body. This is especially true i, in addition to transgress-
ing prescribed societal norms through activity that is deemed criminal, they are
acialized subjects. Many people express no opposition (o the diminishing civil
rights of prisoners, in large part because they believe that individuals forfeit
those rights when they commit criminal acts. Individuals outside of prison
Gefine themselves as “good” citizens in contrast to those inside. They fail to
acknowledge the heavy hand that racism plays in determining which citizens are
targeted by the state for arrest and conviction.

Prisoners thus represent the abject of the nation, in large part because 2

19 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

‘majority of them are people of color. For women of color this expulsion com-
pounds a pre-existing invisibilty. Not only are they absent in discourses about
race. gender, and prison, but their very bodies are hidden by the state thus ren-
dering them completely invisible. The invisibility of women of color is exacer-
bated by prison walls and their humanity is lost within them.

o
»

Conclusion e

Angela Tucker’s analogy (o the black hole with which this article p

began is an apt description of the control unit and, as such, serves as a stuctur- ¢
ing metaphor for my discussion of women of color in solitary confinement. In -

scientific discourse, a black hole is defined as:

aregion of space, created by the total gravitational collapse of mater,
‘whose attractive gravitational force is 5o intense tht no matter, light, or com-
‘munication of any kind can escape. [l is] ifficult o observe for two reasons.
First, it is] black’ — o light from inside can escape to make it visible. Sec-
ond. it s) a very small object. Thus, it can be “observed" only by deducing its
presence from the effects tha ts gravitational field has on matter lying outside
the black hole ... Time and space are warped: time is slowed down and space
stretched out near a black hole ... [The pressure in a black hole i 5o great that]
a person [encountering it}would be ripped to shreds .. . Black holes are predict-
d o occur at the endpoint of the evolution of sufficiently massive stars. 1227
Qr i

In terms of the SHU, this analogy to the black hole is multilayered: the
“blackness” of the SHU is reflected in both its racialized nature and the dark-
ness of the cells themselves; the degree of force within the SHU is experienced
by the women through physical brutality and sexual violence; the space of the
SHU is oppressively small; n228 mental stability is warped; the experience of
passage of time is transformed; and communication flowing both into and out
of the SHU is severely restricted. n229 There is also a connection between the
massive expansion of the prison industrial complex and the SHU. The prison
industrial complex is now so comprehensive and far-reaching that it distorts
everything around it It creates a political system which thrives on the imple-
‘mentation of “tough on crime” measures and an economic system which relies
©on demonizing and terrorizing entire communities of people. As a result, our
society is increasingly a “carceral” one; a high level of surveillance is present in
all of our lives. The “endpoint of the evolution of a sufficiently massive” project
such as the prison industrial complex s the imprisonment of entire communities

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 20

ind the isolation and dehumanization practices of the SHU.

As concerned members of the national community. we must interrogate
he stereotypes we receive from our govemment and through the media about
minals and demand information about the status of prisoners in our nations"
risons. We must recognize the importance of women in prison and commit our-
elves (o organizing against their increasing incarceration. The silence around
his issue and the increasing invisibility of women in prison will allow for
he vast expansion of the prison industrial complex and the inflction of re-
ression on greater numbers of women. As scholars, lawyers, activists, and
esearchers, it is necessary to develop new directions for critical analyses of
women’s imprisonment. This article is a contribution to that process. AS the
rgument has outlined, the prison industrial complex affects women in unique
ways. As advocates for prisoners, we must develop new ways of thinking about
he gendered and racialized dimensions of imprisonment. If we fail to address
he boom in the imprisonment rates of women and the increasingly repressive
haracter of prisons, the devastating effects on women and their families and
-ommunities will be impossible to overcome.

FOOTNOTES:
1 Interview with Angela Tuckes, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (Feb.
. 1998).

12 Most ofthe factual statements inthis atice are based on information gathered by the
uthor during interviews with women incarcerated

it the Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Ca. The names of inerviewees and the.
ates of interviews have been alered 0 protect

he privacy and safety of the women. Specific information has been included oaly with the:
pecmission of the women interviewed.

3 See Bureau of Justice US. Dep'tof Jusice, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice
uatisics--1996 516 fig 6.2, 33 1ls 6.35.6.36

1997) (hereinafer Sourcebook]: see also John Irwin & James Austin I's About Time:
America’s Imprisonment Binge (24. d. 1997).

4 See genecally Katherine Becett, Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary
American Poitics (1997) (discussing the

scendance of the gettough 1pprodch o crime)
Color of Crime (1998).

S See supra note 2

06 See supra note 2.

A7 See supra note 2.

28 See supra note 2.

29 See supra note 2.

010 See supra noe 2

i1 See supra note 2.

gencrally Katheryn K. Russll, The
21 It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

12 See Russ Immarigeon, The Marionization of American Prisons, Nat. Prison Project L,
Fall 1992.a01,1-2. u
nI3Seeid.

14 See Daniel Burton-Rose, Buried Alive: New control uits put prisoners in extreme isola-
tion, Boulder Wy, Jan. 6, 1997, at 8. b
S See Immarigeon, supra note 12.a | [
16 See generally Immarigeon, supra note 12,3 1 1
[
I
i
:

17 See id.at 2.
I8 See Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 12 (discussing The Human Rights Watch report
‘on Prison Conditions in the United Stats). The history of USP Marion wll be covered in
greater detail in a laer portion o this paper. Sce infra ext accompanying notes 133-37.
019 See generally Maria A. Luise, Note, Solitary Confinement: Legal and Psychological
Considerations. 15 New Engl. 1. on Crim. & Civ. Confinement 301 (1989) (discussing the
application of the Eighth Amendment (o olitary confinement). Generally,court focus on
Whether prisonecs are denicd basic necessties when making a detcrminalion us (0 whether
a condition amounts (0 cre and unusual punishment. See id.at 304. Psychological consid-
erations are rarely take ioto account. See id. at 302. Conirast this with the court's opinion
‘over one hundred years ago, n fo Re Medley, 134 US. 160 (1890),in which the court wrote
bout the Walnu Stet i A conseable number of the prisonrs el cen s bt
\
3

confinement,into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next o impossible (o arouse
them, and ohers became violeatly insane; others, till, comited sucide; while those who
5100d the ordeal better were not generaly reformed, and in mst cases did nof recover suf-
ficient mental activity to be of any subscquent service ... It s within the memry of many.
persons interested in prison discipline ... andits main eature of soitary confinemen was
found 10 be too severe. Id.at 168.

120 See Immarigeon, supra note 12. at 3; Burton-Rose, supra not 14, at 8.

221 See, 5., Madrid v. Gomez, 889 F. Supp. 1146 (N.D.Cal. 1995). Chief Judge Thelion
Henderson ruled that solitary confinement of certin subgroups. including mentaly il pis-
ners, violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment of the Eighth Amend-
ment o the U.S. Constitution. See id.at 1279-80. This lawsuit was fled 0 behalf of male
prisoners at Pelican Bay Stte Prison in Seeid.at 115, A substanial porion of
the lawsauit concerned conditions i the SHU. See id.at 1227. One of the most disturbing.
exampls of the brutal conditions in the Pelican Bay SHU concemed a mentally ll African-
American man named Vaughn Dortch. See id.at 1166. Dortch was removed from his cell by |
guards and placed in a bath of scalding hot water See . Guards scrubbed his burning body
With a wire brush while making racist comments. S id. As a result of this reatment. he sus-
ained third degree burms over cighty percent of his body. See id.at 1167. Opened in 989,
Pelican Bay was designed us a state-of-the-art faciliy. See id. at 1155; se also Sally Mann
Ramano, I the SHU Fits: Cruel and Unusual Punishment at California’ Pelican Bay Stae
Prison, 45 Emory L.J. 1089 (1996). Though conditions in the SHU at

Pelican Bay are similar o those in the SHU at Valley Stic, Pelican Bay SHU is operaied
almast compleely by use of remoie control. See id. This means that prisoners never interact
with other human beings,including guards,except when meals ae brought (o them. See id.

a1 1102, Each prisoner exercses alone on a cement enclosed yard thesize of a dog run a a
Kennel, See id.at 110203,

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2

22 See 18U S.CA. § 3626 (West 1997).
23 The Prison Litgation Reform Act (PLRA) was passed as rder 10 3 1996 Appropria-
ons Bil. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 3626 (West 1997).Is provisions include: & two-year time limit
n consent decrees; a limitation onthe power of Special Masters: and a cap on attoreys”
s, reducing them 1o one third of what plaitis’ lawyers usually receive. Sec i. These
rovisions make it vitually impossibl forlegal advocates o bring class action lawsuits 00
chalf o

24 Pub. L. No. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 (1996).

25 See supra note 2;see also Mary O"Melveny. Portrait of a UsS. Political Prison - The
exington High Security Unit for Women, in Cages of Steel The Politcs of Imprisonment
s the United Sttes 112, 112-22 (Ward Churchill & J.J. Vander Wall eds., 1992); Susan
osenberg, Reflctions on Being Buricd Alive. in Cages of Seck: The Poliics of Imprison-
pent in the United States 128, 128-30 (Ward Churchill & 1.. Vander Wall eds.. 1992).

26 See supra note 2.

27 See supra ote 2.

28 See supra note 2.

29 See supea note 2.

30 See Cal. Code Regs. . 15.§ 3287(6)b) (1997).

131 See supea note 2.

32 See supra note 2.

133 Iterview with Jean Davis, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Cal. (Mar. 6.
998): Interview with Melva Danicls. Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal.
1998):Inerview with Bessie Reynolds, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chow-
L (Mas. 6, 1998).

135 When guardsare caught engaging in “inappropriate behavior” with female inmates, they
o usually ~walked of the yard." Thismeans thy are releved oftheir posta the prison.
ften only 10 be transferred o another institution. See supra note 2. In many insances, this
ransfe is to another women's insiution. See supra note 2 This information i also based
o the author’s commanication with th personnel office of the California Depariment of
Comecions.

236 See supra note 2.

437 Inerview with Yvonne Smith. Vall Stae Priso for Women, in Chawehilla Cal. (Dec.
5.1997).

138 Inerview with Claudia Johason, Vally Stse Prison for Women.in Chowehi
(Oct.30, 1997,

39 See id.

240 See id.

i Seeid.

742 See Human Rights Waich. Cold Storage: Super Maximum Security Confinement in
Indiana 52-56 (1997):see supra note 2.

43 See supra note 2.

44 Sce Sushma D, Taylor. Women Offenders and Reeniry lsues, . Prychoative Drugs.
Jan.-Mar, 1996, 3 85.86.

245 See supra noe 2.

cal

23 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

46 Interview with Claudia Johnson, Vlley State Prison for Women, in Chowchills, Cal,

(Oct. 30, 1997

747 See id.

048 See id.

749 Interview with Denise Jones, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (Oct.

30, 1997); Interview with ulia Shaw, Vlley Stte Prison for Women, in Chowehilla,Cal.

(Oct 30, 1997); Interview with Jean Davis, Valley Stte Prison for Women, in Chowehills,

Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997): Intrview with Robin Litle, Valley State Prison for Women, in Chow-

chilla, Cal. (Oct. 30, 1997).

50 Interview with Claudia Johnson, Valiey State Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal.

(Oct. 30, 1997).

nS1 See d.

752 See supra nole 2.

03 See supra note 2.

54 See generuly Pat Carlen & Chris Tehaikovsky. Women in Prison, in Criminal Women

182, 182 (Pat Carlen ed.. 1985) (iscussing the

regimes in women’s prisons).

0S5 See supra note 2.

16 See supra note 2.

057 See supra note 2.

58 See Start Grassian, The Psychopathologica Effects of Soitary Confinemen, 140 Am.

3. Psychiatry 1450, 1450 (1993).

159 See generally Phlis Chesler, Women and Madness 164 (1989) discussing the history

of patrsrchal social construction of women's menta llnesses).

760 See id.

161 See 2,000 Protest Mental Health Budget Cuts, L.A. Times, May 19, 1992,a 14.

62 See Califomia Department of Corrctions Daia Analyss Unit, Monihly Report o Eth-

niciy (visited Apr. 15, 1998) <hitp:www.cde state.caus>.

063 See d.

764 Sec id

965 See Michel Foucault, Discipine and Punish: The Bith of the Prison (Alan Sheridan

trans., Vintage Books 1979) discussing theories of punishment across the early modem and

‘modern periods).

66 See Dorothy MeClelan. Disparity i the Discipline of Male and Femsle Inmates in

Texas Prisons, Women & Crim. Jus. 1., June 27,1994, ut 71-97.

067 See supra note 2.

068 See supra note 2. [

169 See generaly Estclle B. Freedman, Their Sisters Keepers: Women's Prison Reform

in America, 1830-1930 (1981) (discussing Victorian ideology around the purity of white

‘women snd the function of prisons o develop sad maintain ). i

70 See supra note 2.

71 See gencrlly Kimberle Crenshaw, Demarginalising e Inesecion of Rce and Sex:
[
[

A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrie, Feminist Theory and Antiracst
Poliics, in | Feminist Legal Theory 443 (Frances E. Olsen ed., 1995) (discussing the ten-
dency 10 treat race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysi).
It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 24

hough Crenshaw speaks about Black women only, I extend this argument for purposes of
y analysis (0 include Latinas and Native American wormea.

72 A more complex analysi, which incorporates and crtiques heteronormative notions of
xuaity, is also warranied here. Homophobia plays a sigaificant olc in guards” expectations
(and reactions to women prisoncrs. Unfortunalely,there is not cnough space in this paper
include this analyss in suffcient detail.

73 See generally Juanita Diaz-Coto, Gender, Edhnicity, and the State: Laina and Latino
vison Politics (1996) (discussing Latino/Latina prisoner politics)

74 Luana Ross, Healing While Imprisoned, Address Before the “Unfinished Liberation:
olicing, Detention and Prisons” Conference a the Universiy of Colorado at Boulder (M.
5. 1998).

75 See supra note 2.

76 See supra note 2.

77 See supra note 2.

78 See suprs note 2.

79 See supra note 2.

80 See Valley State Prison for Women, Administraive Segregation/Security Housing Units.
mate Orientation Pamphlet (n.d,) (on fle with authar) (hereinaer Iomate Orientation

82 See supra note 2.
84 Sec Inmate Orientation Pamphiet,supa note 80.

85 Interview with Denise Jones, Valley Sate Prison for Women. in Chowchilla, Cal. (Dec.
. 1997).

186 See gencrally Patricia J. Williams, The Alchemy of Race and Rights 216-36 (1991).

187 See Fay Dowker & Glenn Good. From Alcatraz 1o Marion o Florence: Control Unit
risonsinthe United Stats, in Cages of Sieel: The Politcs of Imprisoamen i the United
States, supra note 25, at 131, 142,

188 Sce Erica Thompson & Jan Susker, Supermax Prisons: HighTech Dungeons and Mod-
cn-Day Torture, in Criminal Injustce: Confroning the Prison Crisis 303, (Elihu Rosenblatt
., 1996) (citing Oversight Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties and the
Adminisration of Justce, 99th Cong. 33-39 (1985)).

289 See Russel P. Dobash ct al, The Imprisonment of Women 147 (1986).

190 See supra note 2.

091 Interview with Regina Moris. Valley State Prson for Women, in Chowchill, Cal. (Oct.
30, 1997).

192 Interview with Teresa Brown, Valley Stai Prison for Women, in Chowchilla, Cal. (Feb.
13, 1998).

093 Sce supra nole 2.

194 See supra noe 2.

095 See supra ok 2.

796 See Immarigeon, supra note 12,1 2:3
797 See Dan Morain, Califoria’s Prison Budget: Why s it so voracious?, L.A. Times, Oct.
19,1994, at AL AIS.

098 See d.

25 It’s Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

99 See Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 3 )
100 See Burton-Rose.supra note 14,at 8. K
R0} See Immarigeon.supra note 12,3 2.

102 See Dowker & Good, supra note 87, ut 131. 143 (quoting Steven Whitman, The Mari-
o Penitentiary -It Should be Opened Up, Not Locked Down. S linoisian, Aug. 7, 1988, 2t §
25) 1 nteresting 10 note that Arons does no refer [0 acts, but 0 atitudes. See id. [
103 See Robert Perkinson, Shackled Justice. in Criminal Injustice: Confroniing the Prison
Criss, supra noe 88, at 334, 35.

1104 See The Prison Discipline Sty: Exposing the Myth of Humane Imprisonment
the United Stats, in Criminal Injutice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, supra note 88,
92.97. Jailhouse lawyers hlp other prisoners, many of whom are illterse, to participate in
formal grievance and appesl procedures both within the prison and n the cours” Id at 92. !
105 See id. a1 96 b1, 97 1.7 -
106 See id. st 96 tbL.5. This repor was bused on responscs fo. questionnaire distributed
nationally o prisoners, prison adminisrators, guards, and (o prisoners'family members and
visitors, See id.at 92.

107 See supra note 2.

108 Interview with Patricia Smith, Valley State Prison for Wome. in Chowehill, Cal.
(Apr. 15.1997).

0109 See d.

D110 See id. !
0111 Interview with Denise Joncs, Valley Stae Prison for Women, in Chowehill, Cal. (June
5.1997).

nli2Seeid.

113 See id. The paties in ths lawsuit are being kept anonymous (0 protect the prisoner’s

safety

nll4 Seeid.

115 See id, There is o other such program at this insittion.

n16 Seed.

‘17 Interview with Denise Jones, Valey State Prison for Women,in Chowehilla, Ca. (June
5,1990).

nl18 Seeid.

119 See Cal. Code Regs.tit. 15. § 3320 (1997).

120 Seeid

121 Interview with Denise Jones, Valey Sta Prison for Women,in Chowchill, Cl. (June
5,1997).

0122 See Cal. Code Regs. i, 15, § 3335 (1997).

D123 See supra noe 2.

0124 See generaly Foucault, supra noie 65,
instiutions”.

125 See gencraly i se also I re Mediey, 134 US. 160, 17 (1890) describing soliary |
confinement as “punishment of the most important and painful character”). E
126 See generaly Mike Ryan. Solitude as Counerinsurgency - The US. Isolation Model
of Political Incarceration, in Cages of Stel: The Politis o Imprisonment in the Urited
Stats. supra note 25, at 83 discassing prison isoation).

3536 (discussing “complete and austere

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 2

127 See id. 1 84-85.
128 Secid. a1 92.
129 See id. a1 92-94.
130 See d. t 94 (citing James V. McConnel, Criminals can be Brainwashed Now, Psy-
bol. Today, Apr. 1970, at 18, 74).
131 See id. a1 96-98.
132 See Bill Dunne. The U.S. Prison at Marion, Ilinois: An Instrument of Oppression. in
“ages of Stecl: The Politics of Imprisonment in the United States, supra noe 25. at 38; see
150 Immarigeon. supra note 12, at 1-2.
133 See Immarigeon, supra note 12.at 1-2.
134 See Dunne, supra note 132, at 38. A lockdown means that the prisoners are confined to
hei cells 24 hours aday without human contact. See id. at 52 s also Immarigeon, supra
ote 12, 1.
7135 See Dunnc. supra note 132, 3t 78.
1136 See Ray luc Levasser & Daniel Burton-Rose, From USP Marion to ADX Florence
And Back Again),in The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry
00, 205 (Daniel Burton-Rose et l. ds., 1998),
1137 See O"Melvensy, supra note 25, a 112.
138 See id.at 114-16.
139 See id.at 113-14,
1140 Sec Roscaberg. supra note 25, a 128.
141 Sce Dr. Richard Kom, Excerpt from - Report oa the Effcts of Confinement in the
exinglon High Security Unit, in Cages of Siel: The Politics of Imprisonment i the United
States, supra note 25, at 123, 123,
1142 See Rosenberg. supra noie 25. a 128,
143 See
184 See
1145 See O"Melveny, supra note 25, at 117-19.
0146 See d. at 118 (citing Baraklini v. Meesc, 691 F. Supp. 432 (D.D.C. 1988).
0147 See id.
1148 Sce Baraldini v. Thomburgh, 884 F24 615 (U.S. App. D.C. 1989).
1149 See O'Melveny, supra note 25, ¢ 119.
0150 See id.
0151 See id;see also supra note 2.
n152 See Sourcebook. supra note 3, at 533 1b1.6.36; see also Barbara Bloom et ., Cener on
Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Women in California Prisons: Hidden Victims of the War on
Drugs 3 (May 1994).
N153 See Sourcebook, supra note 3, at 456 tb1.5.34.

is based on the author's own observations while

alSS See id.
156 Interview with Luz Rodriquez, Vally Stae Prison for Wome, in Chowehil, Ca.
(June 28, 1997); Inerview with Denise Jones, Valley State Prison for Women. in Chow-

chil, Ca. (June 28, 1997): Interview with Harriet Lewis. Valley Stae Prison for Women. in

27 Ir's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

RIS See id.

nIs8See id

0159 Sce supra note 2.

160 Iterview with Maria Hernandez, Valley Staie Prison for Women.
(uly8, 1997).

161 A guard must ssue a verbal wari
§3276(1990).

0162 Inerview with Maria Hernandez, Valley State Prison for Women.
uly 8, 1997).

163 See id

164 Telephone Interview with Dr. Corey Weinsiein, California Prison Focus (Apr. 2, 1998).
0165 See
0166 This author's expericnce as a visitor at CCWF.

0167 See Michael Taylor, Many States Curtailing Media Iterviews of Prisoners, SF.
Chron., Jan. 10, 1996, st A12: Michacl Taylor,State Inmates Bared from Media Inerviews,
S.F. Chron., Dec. 28, 1995, at 1.

168 See Taylor, Many States Curtailing Media Inerviews of Prisoners. supra note 167.
169 See Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Escavating the Future in Los Angeles 223 (1992).
RIT0 See id.at 2262

nI7) Seeid. a1 2831

0172 See Peter Cassidy, Poice take a miliary tum, Boston Globe, Jan. 11, 1998, atC1,C2.
nIT3Seeid. :
RI74 See id. :
D175 See id. |
176 See David Theo Goldberg, Surplus Populations: The Political Economy of Prisons,
Paper prescnied to the “Unfinished Liberation: Policing, Detention and Prisons” Conference.
at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Mar. 15, 1998) (on file with author),

0177 See Edward S. Herman, Privileged Depeadency and Waste: The military budget and
our weapons culure. Z Magazine, Nov., 1997, at ‘
41,41 ;
DI78Seeid.

179 See Pauleti Thomas, Making Crime Pay: Triangle of Inerests Creates Infrastructure
1o Fight Lawlessness, Wall St.J.,May 12, 1994, at A1 AS.

‘180 See id. The phrase “prison industrial complex” was coined by Mike Davi. See Mike
Davs, Hell factoris inthe fild: a prison-industial comples, Nation, Feb. 20, 1995, w 229,
‘Angela Davs has recently developed an expanded definition: The concept of the prison |
indusirial complex .. aliempt (0 capture not only the phenomenal expansion of prisons and
jails and the enormous increase in the numbers of people of color subjec t the surveillance -
and supervision of the criminal justice system, but also th increasingly symbiotic elation-

ship between the corporate structure and the prison industry. th relationship between corrc-
ons and economic vialty in many commanitics, and the mounting politica influence of the
comectional community. See Angela Y. Davis, Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Confict,
Crime and Punishment, Changing Atitudes Toward (forthcoming n.d.. This suthor would

2dd 10 this the economic impact of miltarization i the United States and the ransformation

of high-tech weaponry and military hardware for use n th prison industry.

Chowehil

first. See Cal. Code Regs. it 15,

Chowet

. Cal

It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 28

81 Sce Sam Howe Verhovek, Texas Jail Video Puts Transfers Programs in Dout, N.Y.
Fimes. Aug. 22, 1997, at AL

182 See supra note 2

1183 Thisis based on this authors own observations while visiting Valley State Prison for
Women in Chowchilla, Cal.

1184 See id. Guards wear camouflage despite the fact that VSPW is located i the aid, dusty
Ceniral Valley of California.

0185 Sec id.

1186 See id. Eight guards at Corcoran State Prison were receatly indicted for violations of
civil rights in a lawsuit rought on behalf of th family of prisoner who was shot o death
by one of the guards. Sec Robert B. Gunnison, 8 Guards at Corcoran Indicted: Civil rights
charges i siaying of inmat, S.F. Chron., Feb. 27, 1998, a | The guards were accused of
eting up a series of “cockfights” between riva prisoncrs, beting on who would win, and
fhen shooting one of the wo prisoners involved. See id.

n187 See supra notes 3, 153-54 and accompanying text

o188 See Irwin & Austin, supra not 3, at 139-52.

189 See id.

a190 See Ken Silverscin & Alexander Cockbur, America’s Private Gulag, CounterPunch,
Jan. 1-15, 1997, 1 1, 1. Corections Corporation of America s also involved in global
expansion of s operation: the company currently operate prisons in Beitain and Ausirala.
See id.at 2.

191 See id.at8.

192 See Thomas, supra note 179, at Al

0193 Sce Kevin Heliker, Expanding Prison Population Capt
Jan. 19, 1995, a( BL.

0194 See
2195 See id.

0196 This image is now circulating in popular cultural representations of criminals, tough
in a counter-hegemonic way. Se. .., Joe Davidson, Caged Curgo, Emerge, Oct. 1997, at
36, 39. While most images of criminals appear in popular culure as menacing black (male)
bodies or surious black or laina (female) bodies,the image of a prisoner as property of
the sute also circultes as a mode of radical citique. Emerge receatly published an aricle
aboutprison labor illstrated with ful-page image of a black male body behind a barcode,
epresening confinement behind prison bars, but also alluding (0 the commeifcaion of
prisoners and thei labor Sec id.

2197 Sce supranote 2

0198 Sce Julie Browne, The Labor of Doing Time. in Criminal Injusice; Confronting the
Prison Crisi. supra note 85, a 61. 68

19914,

200 See id a 66.

8201 See i a 7.

202 See supra note 2.

1203 See supra note 2.

204 See supra note 2.

1205 See Silversiein & Cockbum, supra note 190, at |

tes Marketers, Wall St. 1.

29 Irs Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor

206 See 4

7207 Sce Goldberg, supra note 176, It significan 10 ot tha i the same period, only one
university cumpus was constructed. Sce id. In 1995, the stat budget for the Deparment of
Corrections exceeded the budge for higher edueation in California. See Fox Buterfeld,
New Prisons Cast Shadow Over Higher Education. N.Y, Times, Apr. 12, 1995, a 21. In
1980. 2% of the state budget was dedicated to correcions n Californis;in 1994 that percent-
age rose 10 9%. See G. Pascal Zachary, Economist Say Prison Boom Will Take Toll, Wall St
J-Sept. 29,1995, at B1. The Rand Corp.estimates that corrctions will consume 18% of the
budget in 2002 f imprisonment continues at this pace. Se¢ id.

208 Calfornia now maintains four prisons for women. See Monthly Report o Edhiciy.
Supra note 62, Califoria Institation for Women (CIW) i Frontera opened in 1952. See Cali-
fornia Insitution for Women, Insituion Profile (1997). It s designed to hold 1026 women
it now holds 1,706, Sec id. Thiry-five years luter,in 1987, Northern California Women's
Facility (NCWP) in Stockion opene. Sec Northern California Women's Facility, Insttution
Profile (1997). I was designed for 400 and holds 721. See id. This was quickly followed by
Central Califormia Women's Facility (CCWP) in Chowchillain 1990 and Valey State Prison
for Women (VSPW)in Chowehila in 1995, See CentralCalifomia Women's Facilty,Insti-
{ution Profile (1997); Valle State Pison for Women, Chowchills, Insitution Profle (1997
CCWF was designed for 2,004 women, but holds 3,148 aad VSPW was designed for 1.980,
but holds 2.960. See id. These prisons are located across the sieetfrom cach other in the
Central Valley and ace the two largest women' prisons in the world. See Prisons: Pressure,
LA Times, Oct. 17. 1994, at AL, A21. CCWF proudly advertics this fact. Maerils issued
by the prison announce it as “The Nation's Largest Female Prison.” Sce supra noie 2. The
rend toward decreasing the emphasis on rehabilitation and increasing repression in prisons
reflected inthe names of these nsttutions. which have changed from “nsttution” (o “facil-
ity" to “prison over a period of 40 years. It i imporant 0 note that these prisons areall
located i isolated, rural areas, which makes viitsfrom children,other family members and
frends iffcult. especially for those who are poor. See supra note 2.

1209 See Meda Chesney-Lind, Sentencing Women to Prison: Equality Without Justce, Pa-
per presented at the Seventh National Roundiable on Women i Prison, American Uiversity,
Washingon, D.C. Uune 17-20, 1993).

1210 See Sourcebook, supra note 3., S16 fig 6.2

n211 See Sourcebook, supra note 3, at S10 bL.6.11 see also. Marc Maver, Americans,
Behind Bars ~A Comparison o Iniemational Ratesof Incarceration, n Cages of Secl: The
Politcs of Imprisonment in the Urited States, supra note 25, s 22, 25 tbl.3.

1212 See Women in Society: Staisics on the Condition of Woaien, in Criminal Injustice:
Confronting the Prison Criss 130, 132 (Elihu Rosenblatt ¢d. 1996). In 1980, there were
approximately 13,000 women n federal and state prisons. S id. By the end of 1992. that
number had risen by almost 300%. Sec id. Tisris i largely tributable 1o the “war on
drugs” i the 19805 and concomitant mandatory-minimu sentences and “thre strikes”
Taws. See Angela Y. Davis. supra note 150,

1213 See generally Women, the Stte, and Welfare (Linda Greene ed., 1990) (discussing the
“Feminization of Poverty”
n214 See id

Pr—

- d xS
It's Like Living in a Black Hole- Cassandra Shaylor 30

15 See Pairicia Williams, The Rooster's Ege 185 (1995).
16 Sec Nancy Kurshan, Behind the Walls: The History aad Current Reality of Women's
prisonment, in Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, supra note 88. at 136,

53,
17 See generally Katheryn K. Russell, The Color of Crime 26-46 (1998) (iscussing

hether rcial bias affectsthe informal stages o th criminal justce sysiem and thercby
fects the formal stages™).

18 See supra not 62 and accompanying text; see also Bloo e a., supra note 152, at 3.
ack women comprise sbout 35% of the Califomia population and Latinas comprise about
6% See id.

19 See Bloom et ., supra note 152, at 56

220 Sec generally Angela Davis. Race and Criminalizaton: Black Americans and the Pun-
ament Indusiry. in The House that Race Builc

54 (Wahneema Lubiano ed. 1997) (discussing racism i the prison industial comples).
221 See generlly Irwin & Austi, supra noe 3, 47 (discussing perceptions of crime
reulating in American political and populas

tre).

222 The increase in incarceration has not had any significant impact on crime rates.
hough violent crime did increase in the 1980s and

Os,this was the same period in which imprisonment rates were a ther highest levels.
ce Irwin & Austin, supea note 3, at 12-13. The

liance on inflammatory and unnccessary hype about violent crime creates a demand
o greater state surveillance and imprisonment for

on-violent offenders.

223 See generally Margaret DeRosia, The Court o Last Resort: The Racialization of
Jodies in America’s Most Wanted, Mediation

forthcoming n.4).

224 See Hallye Jordan, *3 Strikes” Jamming Justice System, Jails, S.F. Daily 1., Jan.
1995, at 1; Ellot Currie, What's Wrong with the Crime Bill. Nation. Jan. 31, 1994, at
i8.

225 See generally Davis, supra note 230 (discussing racism in the emerging prison
ndustrial complex).

1226 See Robin Anderson, Consumer Culure and TV Programming 196 (1995) (quot-
g Ron Harris, Blacks Take Brunt of Drug War, L.A. Times, April 22, 1990, at AL A1).
1221 See generally 4 The Encyclopedia Americana Intemationl Edition 33-34 (1992);
4 Coller's Encyclopedia 238-30 (1997).

4228 The prisoners ofien reer o, s “the hole.~ See supra note 2.

229 Seesupranote 2. - -rC IS

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