Faces of Solitary: Joshua

Joshua Jackson takes us through his time in solitary confinement.
“IMU” or “Intensive Management Unit” and “the hole” are different terms for solitary confinement. Solitary confinement in Washington State is defined as being confined to a cell, alone, for more than 20 hours a day. Often with nothing to do and no medical support.
A “program” is a class or in cell workbook that DOC assigns people in solitary. People in solitary often spend months on a waitlist for a program and many, like Mr. Jackson, do multiple programs during their time in solitary.

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Transcript of "Faces of Solitary- Joshua" produced by AVID and Rooted in Rights JOSHUA: My name's Joshua Jackson (thrumming music) I've been in prison twelve years. Twelve and a half years, something like that, and, I've spent seven and half years of them twelve years in the IMU's. I'm at Monroe Correctional Complex, Special Offenders Unit, C Unit. So when I came to prison, being that I was all in the newspapers, they took me right off the prison bus, and they threw me in the hole. So, eventually it was going to be like for a couple of days that I was going to be in the hole. Because they wanted to check and see if I needed involuntary protective custody. And, I didn't, you know. But, when I found out they wasn't going to let me out of the hole, I started acting out. Flooding my cell, doing self-harm. They would write me up for this stuff, and, eventually, there were so many write ups, that they recommended me for a program. And they sent me from there to Stafford Creek. And I stayed there about six or seven months. (metallic clang) I had something happen where one side of my face had got paralyzed. You know, and it's still like that, you know, and, they weren't giving me no medical help. A long time they never gave me no medical help. And then my behaviors just kept getting worse and worse. Because they kept me isolated. They just kept me in this box all day, and they wouldn't let me out. And um - then they sent me here, to Monroe, to their IMU. And I ended up staying in the IMU over there about three and half, three and a half years almost. You know, they weren't giving me no help. They were just leaving me there. And every time I do self harm, they would strap me to a bed, or they put me in a chair. I mean there was months I was on the bed. It's just- like, it's just a joke. This mental health is a joke. And it was a nightmare and I was so angry! And then you got, not just me, you got other inmates in here, that have severe mental health problems. They used to have a thing where they would say, "I need to see blood before I can come down there and talk to you." There are lot of people in IMU, don't belong in IMU. That if they were given the proper mental health care, they would they would- they'd have a way to utilize it, instead of acting out. NARRATOR: Since filming, Mr. Jackson was released and is living successfully in the community. End of Transcript