IV. THE COMMUNITY OUTSIDE

In Response to Ronald Epps

I am hoping you don't mind my presumption in writing to you. Cathy Brennan took the liberty of sharing your letter with me out of a deep concern for your well being. While there is little any of us can do in terms of gaining your release from the isolation of the supermax, perhaps we can assist in helping you endure and gain strength. I am going to speak candidly - and from years of experience in counseling those in isolation units (via the phone) and those who have returned to the streets. I claim no great victories because it is true that the damage that can sometimes occur is severe. While no one escapes long periods of isolation unscathed, some do come out healthier than others - and it is the mental and physical health techniques of those people that I would like to share with you.

Your reaction to the hug of a fellow prisoner upon your last release was one I have seen before. I have also reached out to hug someone as a welcome and felt them flinch from the contact. And you are correct in your assessment that the entire purpose of isolation units is to break human beings down, in essence to make them useless. There are also other uses to supermax isolation, obviously political ones such as using it as a management tool to keep prisoners (especially the young ones coming in such numbers) from getting organized. From a Corrections point of view, it is also a way to maintain the safety of personnel, and it is less expensive to run a supermax than a prison with general population. As for the "public", most folks don't seem to care what Corrections does as long as "criminals" are kept away from the streets. Although this is most certainly a form of genocide, most people do not understand the political uses of prisons in that way. Knowing this doesn't help your situation any, but it is important for you to hold onto the political nature of what is happening to you - and hundreds of thousands of others across the country.

You write that one of the impacts of your social dislocation is that you have not sought out or encouraged any contacts on the street - either family or friends. Reading that reminded me of one person I know who has been in New Jersey State Prison's Management Control Unit for almost eleven years. While the purposes of a control unit vs. a supermax are different, the conditions are often the same. Through a