Texas inmates say ‘decade after decade’ of solitary confinement is torture

Prisoners who joined hunger strike to protest extreme conditions describe the damage isolation inflicts on mental health

Texas prisoners who joined a hunger strike in protest against the state's widespread use of prolonged solitary confinement have described the damage to inmates' mental and physical health inflicted by a system they equate with torture.

Guadalupe III Constante said that despite having a clean disciplinary record, he has been held in isolation every day since he was convicted of robbery 17 years ago. I went on hunger strike to bring attention to this torture - I haven't had contact with my wife, kids, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents in 17 years."