Czifra, Steven — Eight Years in Solitary Confinement Part One
In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Steven Czifra, a 38 year old undergraduate student at the University of California at Berkeley who spent almost 16 years in prison beginning when he was 14 years old.
Having been held in a solitary confinement facility known as the SHU, security housing units of California’s juvenile and adult prisons, for almost eight years, he recently participated in the hunger strikes in solidarity with current prisoners to end the use of those facilities.
In the first of a two-part series on prisons from the prisoner’s perspective, Steven Czifra shares his story and experiences. In part-two we talk about his reflections and how he chose to turn his life around.
Our conversation, recorded from his home in Berkeley, California on September 14, 2013 began when I asked him what led up to his first incarceration.
The book Steven Czifra recommends is “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander.
Click here to listen to our interview with Steven Czifra or on the media player below.
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