“Solitary confinement” looks different in California prisons — and it can be necessary | Opinion

The term “solitary confinement” conjures up images of an inmate being held alone in a dark, dank, windowless concrete cell with nothing more than a thin mattress.

That is not the case in the California prison system, where the term “solitary confinement” can be more accurately described as restricted housing. I know; I worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for more than 30 years. During that time, the restricted housing program was known as the Security Housing Unit, more commonly referred to as SHU.

During my tenure as an assistant director at CDCR, with responsibility for gang management, the use of SHU was critical to control gang violence. SHU was not solitary confinement — most inmates in SHU were double-celled, with some exclusions.

There have been two bills recently introduced to address the use of restricted housing: Assembly Bill 280 (Holden, D-Pasadena) would further reduce the use of restricted housing, and Senate Bill 733 (Glazer, D-Orinda) calls for more data acquisition to improve the use of restricted housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom also wants CDCR to develop new guidelines for the use of restricted housing.

These well-meaning proposals, however, need to confront the reality that these facilities need the ability to isolate inmates who commit violent acts in order to operate safely and securely. Inmates have to feel safe in order to take advantage of available self-help programs. The use of restricted housing is a critical correctional tool to control violence, particularly while CDCR moves toward a more rehabilitative model.

It makes sense for CDCR to limit the amount of time an inmate spends in restricted housing. But each case is different.

What CDCR must do is avoid the mistakes of the past. Too many inmates were left in solitary confinement for too long. In fact, prior to the 2012 class action lawsuit brought on by a coalition of inmates, a few CDCR administrators, including myself, were instrumental in moving to a behavior-based model for SHU confinement.

The new policy meant that an inmate had to commit a violent act or be involved in serious misconduct to be placed in SHU. Gang members could no longer be placed simply because they were identified and validated as a prison gang member. I was personally involved with the implementation of the path out of solitary confinement, which included a multi-phased step-down program.

That policy change was followed by the lawsuit settlement agreement in 2015, and agreement that led to the release of thousands of gang members from SHU to the general population (and other reforms).

However, having gang leaders and members in the general population mixed together has created its own set of problems: These prisoners use smuggled cell phones to conduct criminal activities, including directing murders, assaults and drug trafficking both in the prisons and in the community.

Prison violence disrupts daily programs and rehabilitation. According to a review of CDCR statistics, from October 2022 to October 2023 there were more than 500 assaults on staff with or without a weapon and more than 2,500 batteries on staff. There was also more than 200 inmate-on-inmate assaults and more than 3,000 batteries between inmates. There were 14 riots and 25 inmate homicides during the last 14 months.

Drug smuggling into the prisons is one of the contributing factors to the increase in inmate drug overdoses. Gang conflicts can cause program disruptions and lock-downs. Critics of the prison system have to remember that criminal justice reforms like realignment sent non-violent offenders to the county jails. The state prison population has been distilled down to inmates with violent backgrounds. This makes the temporary use of restricted housing necessary to keep the programming inmates and staff safe.

Politicians need to keep these things in mind when they call for drastic changes in the use of restricted housing. I believe SB 733 is the better way to go, in addition to the governor working with CDCR on additional policy reforms.

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