Challengers to prison solitary gain support from Justice Kennedy
Inmates challenging lengthy solitary confinement in California prisons, a case scheduled to go to trial in Oakland this December, gained some high-placed moral support Monday from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy, who sometimes uses public forums to hold forth on injustices he sees in the U.S. penal system, did just that in testimony to a House committee in Washington on the court budget. “Solitary confinement literally drives men mad,” he said, according to wire service reports. Referring to the penal system as a whole, Kennedy said, “In many respects, I think it’s broken.” It was welcome news to lawyers for inmates suing over conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison