America's Most Isolated Prisoner Described The Horror Of Spending 10,220 Days In Extreme Solitary Confinement

One American prisoner who had been in solitary confinement the longest once explained what it was like to have absolutely no interactions with other people at all.

Credit: Federal Bureau of Prisons

America's "most isolated man," Thomas Silverstein, was under a "no human contact" order for the first 28 years of his sentence.

He served the final 36 years of his life behind bars, totaling 42 years in prison until passing away in 2019 at the age of 69.

When Silverstein was 19 years old, he was originally sentenced to prison for armed robbery. 

However, after brutally killing two other inmates and a prison guard, he was later given a life sentence without the possibility of release.

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In a complaint against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that was ultimately dismissed in 2011, Silverstein claimed that his decades-long silence in a cramped concrete cell had violated US Constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.

The main goal of his lengthy "declaration," which he penned, was "to describe [his] experience during this lengthy period of solitary confinement."

Silverstein went on to discuss ‘the nature and impact of the harsh conditions I have endured in spite of a spotless conduct record for over 22 years, and my lack of knowledge about what, if anything, I can do to lessen my isolation’.

In the document, he initially expressed regret for the murder of a prison officer named Merle Clutts, which was the cause of his imprisonment.

Credit: State of California

He continued: “I understand that I deserve to be punished for my actions, and I do not expect ever to be released from prison…I just want to serve out the remainder of my time peacefully with other mature guys doing their time.”

In addition to killing Clutts, Silverstein, an Aryan Brotherhood member, also killed two other prisoners.

But he claimed that because of his killing of a fellow prison officer, staff members at his institution declined to speak with him out of respect for their late colleague.

He spent his stay in a series of quarters that were very locked down and isolated; at times, he could hear other prisoners but not see them.

Credit: State of California

Of his time in USP Atlanta, he wrote: “The cell was so small that I could stand in one place and touch both walls simultaneously. The ceiling was so low that I could reach up and touch the hot light fixture.”

“My bed took up the length of the cell, and there was no other furniture at all…The walls were solid steel and painted all white.”

He continued: “During my first year in the side pocket cell I was completely isolated from the outside world and had no way to occupy my time.”

“I was not allowed to have any social visits, telephone privileges, or reading materials except a bible. I was not allowed to have a television, radio, or tape player.”

“I could speak to no one and there was virtually nothing on which to focus my attention. I was not only isolated but also disoriented in the side pocket.”

“This was exacerbated by the fact that I wasn’t allowed to have a wristwatch or clock. In addition, the bright, artificial lights remained on in the cell constantly, increasing my disorientation and making it difficult to sleep."

Adding: “Not only were they constantly illuminated, but those lights buzzed incessantly.”

“The buzzing noise was maddening, as there often were no other sounds at all. This may sound like a small thing, but it was my entire world.”

“Due to the unchanging bright artificial lights and not having a wristwatch or clock, I couldn’t tell if it was day or night.”

“Frequently, I would fall asleep and when I woke up I would not know if I had slept for five minutes or five hours, and would have no idea of what day or time of day it was.”

“I tried to measure the passing of days by counting food trays.”

“Without being able to keep track of time, though, sometimes I thought the officers had left me and were never coming back. I thought they were gone for days, and I was going to starve. It’s likely they were only gone for a few hours, but I had no way to know.”

“I was so disoriented in Atlanta that I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I now know that I was housed there for about four years, but I would have believed it was a decade if that is what I was told. It seemed eternal and endless and immeasurable…”

Regarding the time given for exercise, he stated: “The only time I was let out of my cell was for outdoor recreation.”

“I was allowed one hour a week of outdoor recreation.”

“I could not see any other inmates or any of the surrounding landscape during outdoor recreation. There was no exercise equipment and nothing to do…”

“Nearly all of the time, the officers refused to speak to me.”

“Despite this, I heard people who I believed to be officers whispering into my vents, telling me they hated me and calling me names. To this day, I am not sure if the officers were doing this to me, or if I was starting to lose it and these were hallucinations.”

“In the side pocket cell, I lost some ability to distinguish what was real. I dreamt I was in prison. When I woke up, I was not sure which was reality and which was a dream.”

It's important to keep in mind what Silverstein did and the organization he was a part of before feeling too empathetic, even though it seems like an absolute nightmare beyond imagination.