California Prisoners Sleep With ‘One Eye Open.’ Should They Have Their Own Cells?

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If you’re serving hard time inside a California prison, you’ll often find yourself stuck in a cramped cell with a complete stranger. You hang a bedsheet to manufacture the semblance of privacy between bed and toilet. Any little thing can erupt into a source of tension and angst – body odor, snoring, lights on or off.

Each moment becomes a test to avoid confrontation or brawling. With no immediate help from officers, the fear and anxiety festers inside you. And day by day, your mental health deteriorates.

Joe Garcia

CalMatters

“You don’t necessarily know what the capacity of this person is, or like what their crime is,” said Steven Warren, a current resident inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. “You’