Psychology's Haney discusses solitary confinement on NPR's 'Fresh Air'

An interview with UC Santa Cruz psychology professor Craig Haney is scheduled on the public radio program
Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

The piece can be found at: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/06/286794055/how-four-inmates-launched-a-statewide-hunger-strike-from-solitary

Haney, who for 30 years has conducted extensive research into the psychological effects of solitary confinement, will be featured on the program with Benjamin Wallace-Wells, author of a New York Magazine article "The Plot from Solitary," http://nymag.com/news/features/solitary-secure-housing-units-2014-2/ The segment with Haney begins 25 minutes into the program.

Haney was a key source for the article that details the 59-day hunger strike last summer by inmates in state prisons across California.  The hunger strike was organized and launched by four inmates in isolation at the Pelican Bay State Prison near the Oregon border.

Haney first visited Pelican Bay in 1992 and surveyed 100 inmates in the prison's Secure Housing Unit (SHU). He has conducted several follow up interviews.

Haney's research and testimony has been central to a re-evaluation of the practice of solitary confinement. Last month he testified before a joint meeting of the California Assembly and Senate Public Safety committees about the California Department of Corrections proposed new rules for solitary.

Also last month, New York state has agreed to sweeping reforms intended to curtail the widespread use of solitary confinement, including prohibiting its use in disciplining prisoners under 18.

In June 2012, he testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights.