The Ashker v Governor of California Case

What crime deems a person worthy of being placed in solitary confinement? How long should someone be in solitary confinement? Should they be placed there before their case is put on trial or after? These are questions that the jury and judge had to consider during the Ashker v Governor of California case. The case fought for prisoner’s rights and went against prisoners being placed in solitary confinement. A person should not be placed in solitary confinement until the case’s trial is concluded. There should be stricter procedural safeguards in place to help determine whether or not someone should be placed in solitary confinement because of the psychological effects that solitary confinement could have on a person, which would then be violating that person’s Constitutional Rights. The longer the person is in solitary confinement the worse the effects are on said person.

The Ashker v Governor of California case focused on prisoners placed in Security Housing Units (SHU) in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). When the case was filed there were thousands of prisoners that lived in the SHU in solitary confinement, for example, Pelican Bay Prison. In these facilities, prisoners were kept in windowless cells, with infrequent phone calls and visits. The prisoners hardly interacted with anyone, not even their friends or family, let alone other prisoners. The Ashker team fought and said that prisoners being placed in solitary confinement violated their Eighth Amendment which banned cruel and unusual punishment. They also said that prisoners being placed in solitary confinement without meaningful review of why they are being put there violates their rights to due process. 

The people living in solitary confinement weren’t there due to any behavioral issues they may have had. They were placed there due to assumed gang affiliation. Prisoners should not be placed in solitary confinement without just cause, whether that cause be behavioral issues or the prisoners being a danger to themselves and others. However, that wasn’t the circumstance that the prisoners in solitary confinement in the SHU were in. They were placed there due to allegations of gang affiliation and due to having tattoos that were “gang-related”. People should not be placed in solitary confinement for something as simple as alleged gang affiliation. The prison wardens weren’t completely sure if the prisoner was a part of a gang and yet placed them in solitary confinement off of a mere hunch. Due process is incredibly necessary when prisoners are being placed in solitary confinement due to the dangerous effects solitary confinement can have on said prisoners. 

Solitary confinement can have very lethal and damaging effects to prisoners and their health, whether that be mental or physical. Humans are naturally social beings so prisoners being deprived of social interactions is already cruel and unusual punishment, which violates their eighth amendment. Lack of social interaction can be a stress-inducing experience for prisoners which can alter parts of their brain. For example, studies show that the part of the brain that handles memory grows smaller the more time prisoners spend in solitary confinement. Another study was done conveying that prisoners held in solitary confinement had shorter life spans. Prisoners were 24% more likely of dying within the first year of being released from prisoner and 78% more likely of dying via suicide. Being deprived of interacting with other people is torture enough, but being put back into the regular world can be even worse for prisoners. It can be a traumatic experience for them because they are not used to living life socially. 

After this case, many reforms were made to the SHUs in California’s prisons. The court came to an agreement that helped lower the amount of prisoners living in SHUs, made it a rule that prisoners can not be placed in solitary confinement based on gang affiliation, and made a maximum period of time a prisoner could spend in solitary confinement. Additionally, an alternative to solitary confinement was created for prisoners who are considered dangers to themselves or others. All in all, it is important that people’s Eighth Amendment and due process rights are being upheld. In the past, prisoners being placed in solitary confinement has violated those rights but changes are being made that are helping benefit the prison system for those who are living in it.