In 1980, I was arrested and convicted of armed robbery and assault. Because it was a second offense, I was sentenced for 20 to 40 years…and I was released in July 2004. Of that time, I spent 18 years in the Management Control Unit, or "MCU," in the New Jersey State facility in Trenton.… The MCU is an isolation facility where inmates are locked down in single cells, roughly 9 by 13, for 23 hours out of every day, 7 days a week. Inmates are let out of their cells for each meal to receive their trays, and also for some exercise (in a small fenced in area) every other day. Each cell does have a TV and radio. But there was little or no library access. My unit had 20 inmates on it at any given time. When you were in your cell, you could not see into anyone else's cell.

During the time I spent in the control unit, I noticed that some other inmates struggled with the lock down conditions. I observed that some individuals, who were quite normal when they arrived on the unit, started to change over time. Some started talking to themselves, some developed poor hygiene habits. I even observed and heard about a number of attempted suicides.

I have just completed my first year of re-integration with the general community. Although I made it out and have been able to adjust pretty well, there have been some lasting effects from the time I spent in the control unit and in prison in general. I have noticed that my social skills deteriorated and, although I was on the quiet side to begin with, I am now much more reserved around others. I also have become desensitized to violence, having seen so much of it while incarcerated. To this day, I maintain a very disciplined structure to my daily life that I notice other people do not follow.

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission