Episode 60: Christopher Blackwell and Deborah Zalesne - ENDING ISOLATION: THE CASE AGAINST SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Christopher Blackwell is an award-winning journalist currently incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center, where he is serving a 45-year prison sentence for taking another human’s life during a drug robbery (something he takes full accountability for). Deborah Zalesne is a legal expert and law professor at the City University of New York School of Law, where she teaches contracts, corporate law, and commercial law. Together with Dr. Terry Kupers and Kwaneta Harris, they wrote Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement (https://bookshop.org/p/books/ending-isolation-the-case-against-solitary-confinement/0a24fd8bf0aabec1?ean=9780745351278), which weaves together first-hand accounts of incarceration and solitary confinement with legal and medical analyses to illustrate the devastating impacts of solitary confinement on survivors, their families, and the communities they are part of (both inside and outside of prison). In this episode, I talk to Debbie and Chris about the history of solitary confinement, the legal frameworks that prevent reform from taking root, the challenges and abuses incarcerated individuals face when asserting their rights, and how the realities of solitary confinement differ from how it is portrayed to the public. They also discuss the Journey to Justice Bus Tour (https://journeytojusticetour.com/) they have put together, in partnership with Unlock the Box (https://unlocktheboxcampaign.org/) and Look 2 Justice (https://www.look2justice.org/), to help educate the public about the experience and impacts of solitary confinement.