Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thomas Silverstein
Thomas Silverstein has spent nearly three decades in solitary confinement, and because of that he’s suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
America’s “most isolated man” has been held in an extreme form of solitary confinement under a “no human contact” order for 28 years.
He was first sent to the California state prison at San Quentin at age 19 for armed robbery. Released on parole, he committed three more armed robberies (with his father and cousin) and, in 1977, he was sentenced to 15 more years. He began his term at San Quentin, but was transferred to the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. In December 1980, he was convicted of murdering a fellow inmate, although the ruling was later reversed. In the meantime, Silverstein was transferred to the federal prison at Marion, Illinois. There he was convicted of the murders of two prisoners, one of which he admits to.
On October 22, 1983, Silverstein stabbed to death a prison guard, Merle Clutts. He was immediately transferred to a prison in Atlanta and given “no human-contact status.” His cell was so small he could stand in one place and touch both walls simultaneously. His bed took up the length of the cell, and he had no other furniture. He was permitted to wear underwear, but was given no other clothing.
Silverstein’s only contact with other prisoners occurred in 1987 when rioting prisoners released him from his cell for seven days. Returned to Leavenworth, he was isolated in “a post-apocalyptic state.” After 18 years, he was transferred to the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, where he has remained to this day.
In his lawsuit against the federal government, Silverstein contends that his decades of isolation in a small concrete cell violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, as well as its guarantee of due process.
Silverstein, who is now 59 years old, has requested permission to be considered for a lower security classification within the maximum security system. His lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons is scheduled to be heard in a jury trial on January 23, 2012.
-David Wallechinsky
America’s Most Isolated Federal Prisoner Describes 10,220 Days in Extreme Solitary Confinement (by Jean Casella and James Ridgeway, Buzz Flash)
Fortresses of Solitude (Part 1) (by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, Solitary Watch)
Silverstein v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (U.S. District Court for Colorado) (pdf)
The Caged Life (by Alan Prendergast, Denver Westword News)
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