On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing the California Mandela Act, a bill on Governor Newsom’s desk that would ban solitary confinement for pregnant women, people under 26 or over 59, and those with mental or physical disabilities. It would ban solitary for anyone outside of those populations for more than 15 consecutive days or more than 45 days in a 180-day period.
Governor Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto AB 2632. We’ll speak with solitary confinement survivors to learn about their experience and advocacy to end this inhumane practice.
Guests:
Hamid Yazdan Panah, immigration attorney, advocacy director for Immigrant Defense Advocates, and founding member of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, and the Northern California Rapid Response and Immigrant Defense Network
Dolores Canales, co-founder of California Families Against Solitary Confinement, community outreach director for The Bail Project, founder of the Family Unity Network, commissioner on the Probation Oversight Committee of Los Angeles County, and a member of the advisory council for the Unlock the Box campaign
Kevin McCarthy, UC Berkeley student and member of Berkeley Underground Scholars, who spent nine years and four months in solitary confinement at California state prisons
Web Resources:
The San Francisco Chronicle, Kevin McCarthy: I spent more than a decade in solitary confinement. Trust me, it’s torture
CalMatters: ‘Mandela’ bill would limit solitary confinement in California prisons and jails
The Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers move to ban solitary confinement for long stints and vulnerable inmates
The Washington Post: California has the chance to limit solitary confinement. It should take it.
The Atlantic: The Link Between Race and Solitary Confinement
