CHARLESTON, S.C. – In Death Penalty News this month, Randy Poindexter describes his experience with solitary confinement and how it greatly affected him and will continue to greatly affect him for the rest of his life.
He reflects on his experience to bring insight to the issue, noting his experience has made him feel a great deal of “sadness” when hearing about Mikal Mahdi, who now faces the death penalty after spending time in solitary confinement between the ages of 14 and 21, and how this is something that inevitably failed him.
“…solitary confinement nearly destroyed me.” – Randy Poindexter
Poindexter, in Death Penalty News, notes “solitary confinement nearly destroyed me.” He uses details of his time in solitary confinement over 16 years to show why he feels this way. Poindexter describes it as a concrete cell that he lived in for 23 hours a day for more than 3,000 days.
Poindexter acknowledges he was angry, untreated, and unwell before confinement, implying help was necessary, but describes what confinement did to him as madness.
Poindexter expands on this by saying his mental health was greatly affected, leading to depression, paranoia, hallucinations and self-mutilation. He highlights, in Death Penalty News, the impact of this by mentioning four fellow prisoner friends of his who took their own lives because they did not want to deal with the isolation any longer.
Poindexter states in Death Penalty News that even though he was released after 16 and is receiving help, he still suffers mental and physical issues due to not receiving help sooner. He explains that nowadays he’s on track with everything, including taking medication, going to counseling, and taking care of his family.
Poindexter claims in Death Penalty News that, even though he’s on track, he “can’t help but reflect on my experience as the state of South Carolina is scheduled to execute Mikal Mahdi, whose life was also destroyed by solitary confinement.” Poindexter notes he doesn’t know Mahdi, but understands what he’s going through.
Poindexter explains Mikal’s situation, stating he was very depressed from a young age, dealing with suicidal thoughts and needing help, but rather than receiving help got solitary confinement. This confinement spanned over the ages of 14 and 21, which included over 6,800 hours in confinement in Virginia, Poindexter explained.
In Death Penalty News, Poindexter emphasizes there was a period of time where Mikal was kept in confinement for 1,700 straight hours, “without seeing another human”. Poindexter also discloses the reasons for being in confinement were often “trivial,” like not standing up fast enough or having an untucked shirt.
The Death Penalty News author adds Mikal was released at the age of 21 in a condition much worse than when he went into prison, regarding depression and suicidal thoughts because of solitary confinement.
Two months after his release, Mikal committed two murders, explains Poindexter, charging the system failed Mikal when he was a teenager and sentenced him to death at the age of 21.
Poindexter also argues in Death Penalty News solitary confinement is meant for torture. He cites an incident leaving prison in 2009 in which a guard “sneered” and implied he’d be back. He argued it’s a torture method that failed Mikal and fails 122,000 men, women, and children in solitary confinement every day as of 2019.
Poindexter points out in Death Penalty News that progress is being made, noting, in 2016, the Department of Justice recommended ending the use of solitary confinement on children in federal custody. And in 2018 President Trump signed the First Step Act which put restrictions on solitary confinement and youth.
Poindexter states in Death Penalty News that if Mikal is executed he would ultimately have been failed along with anyone in the future going through something similar.
Poindexter adds that, in 2022, South Carolina introduced new rules surrounding solitary confinement and youth, and writes that, although it’s too late for Mikal, it’s not too late to use his situation as an example of why solitary confinement is an issue.
