Our Daily Bread

In one prison system in the US, 25,000 of the most dangerous inmates endure solitary confinement in small concrete cells. They have virtually no contact with the outside world. An inmate at Oregon State Penitentiary said that the most difficult part about such isolation is “not being able to see somebody face to face . . . to communicate, to touch, to hug, to feel loved, to feel human.” This man’s words seem to scream, “I’m lonely! This is not the way it’s supposed to be.”