How does having too many postage stamps in prison land you alone in a bathroom-sized cell, 23 hours each day for a month? It may sound far-fetched, but in this conversation with Nation editor Liliana Segura, Jean Casella of Solitary Watch explains why this is far from unusual. New York has the highest level of solitary confinement of any state, where it is often used as a punishment of first resort.
In a recent piece for The Nation, Casella and James Ridgeway provide an inside look at life in these Special Housing Units, and the efforts being made to end the practice.
—Zoë Schlanger
