The Hole

by Deborah Tobola

Empty Cell

Poetic Justice Project is remounting its production of In the Kitchen With a Knife, in which three characters are sent to The Hole after their co-worker, Telly, is discovered with a knife in his chest in the Chow Hall.

In The Hole, the inmates are beset by doubts and fears. They are visited by a spectral character named Dodger, who has the ability to conjure scenes from the past and visions of the future.

The three men stay in The Hole for only a few days — until the audience decides at intermission which one killed Telly. It's all fiction — a story meant to ask the audience to examine their own preconceptions about crime, criminals and race. Unfortunately, the real story of many prisoners who live in The Hole — also called solitary confinement — is much worse. On any given day in the United States, there are about 80,000 of our 2.4 million prisoners in solitary confinement.

In California, Pelican Bay State Prison is home to the notorious Security Housing Unit (SHU). Inmates in the SHU — about 1,100 — are confined to their cells for 23 hours each day. More than 400 prisoners have spent more than 10 years in solitary confinement. The average length of stay for a Pelican Bay SHU inmate is eight years. A hunger strike in Pelican Bay last year has brought solitary confinement into public consciousness. About 30,000 California prisoners statewide joined the strike the first day. Now California legislators — usually wary of tampering with the prison system — are calling for change.

The cost to confine one inmate to a SHU cell is $70,000 to $80,000 per year, as opposed to the $50,000 annual cost for "regular" inmates. What do you get for that kind of taxpayer outlay of dollars?

Depressed, suicidal, panic-attacked, asocial men and women who will be released back to their communities with no transition. One day a prisoner is talking to himself, taking his meal through a slot in the door, pacing his cell, and the next day he's on the bus back home with $200 in his pocket.

Approximately 95% of inmates who have lived in solitary confinement will eventually be released. No wonder their recidivism rates are higher than the 60% to 70% of "regular" inmates.

Why would we build a prison in the northern outreaches of the state — almost at the Oregon border — and keep more than 1,000 prisoners isolated for 23 hours a day for years, even decades on end? Are all SHU inmates so violent that they must be segregated?

As an article in New York Magazine points out, a murderer can get less time in the Pelican Bay SHU than a "validated" gang member. Validation can take many forms: talking to a known gang member, sporting a particular tattoo, even possessing political writing that is specific to a race or cultural identity.

Art imitates life: In one scene of our play, the character Alejandro is being interrogated in the Captain's office about his knowledge of Telly's murder. The Lieutenant produces Alejandro's journal, which he says shows "homicidal intent," then has him read a poem aloud. The Lieutenant says, "Sounds like a threat to me." I used to think that scene was pushing the boundary of disbelief. Now I wonder.

Send These Ex-Cons Back to Alcatraz!

In the Kitchen With a Knife, Santa Cruz, Friday, 4/11 at 7 p.m.
In the Kitchen With a Knife, Alcatraz Island, 4/12 at 2 p.m.