After 22 Years Of 'Psychologil Torture' In Solary Confement, Anthony Gay Fights For State Law Rtrictg Its Use - CBS Chigo

Contents:

• ANTHONY GAY’S S SOLARY NFEMENT LED TO SELF-MUTILATN. NOW A PROPOSED LAW TO LIM PRISONER ISOLATN ILLOIS IS NAMED HIS HONOR.
• AFTER 22 YEARS OF 'PSYCHOLOGIL TORTURE' IN SOLARY CONFEMENT, ANTHONY GAY FIGHTS FOR STATE LAW RTRICTG ITS USE
• ANTHONY GAY APPEALS FOR HELP OM FERAL PRISON
• SUPPORTERS RALLY BEHD ANTHONY GAY AT FERAL URTHOE PEORIA
• STATE DEPARTMENT'S 1ST OPENLY GAY SPOKPERSON SENDS SIGNAL TO THE WORLD, ADVOT SAY
• JTICE FOR ANTHONY GAY
• 22 YEARS IN SOLARY CONFEMENT: LOOKG AT THE LIFE OF FORMER INMATE ANTHONY GAY
• ANTHONY GAY AWAS FED SENTENCG WHILE PLANNG ANTI-SOLARY NFEMENT EVENT

ANTHONY GAY’S S SOLARY NFEMENT LED TO SELF-MUTILATN. NOW A PROPOSED LAW TO LIM PRISONER ISOLATN ILLOIS IS NAMED HIS HONOR.

Spurred by a Chigo Tribune vtigatn volvg a man who spent two s isolatn after beg nvicted of stealg a hat and a sgle dollar bill, a proposed state law would lim how long an Illois prisoner n stay solary Anthony Gay Isolated Confement Rtrictn Act would bar the Illois Department of Correctns om placg an mate isolatn for more than 10 days a six-month perd. ”The bill is named for Anthony Gay, a Rock Island native who entered prison 1994 as a young man, nvicted of robbery after brawlg wh another teen who told police that Gay took his hat and stole $1.

Once, he packed a fan motor si a gapg leg wound; another time he cut open his scrotum and serted a are visible on Anthony Gay's arm while he worships at the Church of Peace Rock Island 2018. (Brian Cassella / Chigo Tribune)As his md began to terrate, Gay beme antagonistic toward his guards and ocsnally threw ure or fec at them, unlawful acts of fiance that stretched his origal sentence to more than two s behd Livgston County, where Pontiac Correctnal Center is suated, the state’s attorney’s office lodged a seri of 21 dictments agast Gay between 2000 and 2004 for the many tim he threw his own bodily fluids at guards.

The Illois Department of Correctns would later intify Gay urt filgs as one of a few dozen mat whose mental illns were so acute and dangero that they required full patient re. But a Tribune vtigatn found his psychiatric treatment often nsisted of a therapist shoutg qutns to him through a he reunted how his mental health erod isolatn, the normally stoic Gay broke down tears Tuday durg a news nference promotg the proposed legislatn.

AFTER 22 YEARS OF 'PSYCHOLOGIL TORTURE' IN SOLARY CONFEMENT, ANTHONY GAY FIGHTS FOR STATE LAW RTRICTG ITS USE

While Illois has signifintly rced the number of days juvenile offenrs spend isolatn and no longer segregatn as a punishment for young people as part of a nsent cree between the partment and the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn of Illois, those polici do not extend to the adult has phed unsuccsfully for solary nfement reforms for nearly four years, but he believ the bill has s strongt chanc of passg durg the current legislative ssn given Gay’s volvement.

Anthony Gay said he was “tortured for s” by his isolatn for up to 24 hours a day a ld, ty cell he likened to a dungeon, and was nied accs to necsary mental health efforts sce his 2018 release to outlaw the procre as a punive measure is reflected a bill that bears his name now makg s way through the Illois legislature.

”The Anthony Gay Isolated Confement Rtrictn Act would lim such extreme nfement for any dividual to no more than 10 nsecutive days any 180-day perd, and pel the Illois partment of rrectns to produce quarterly reports showg the e of the practice. "It wasn't somethg that I wanted to do, but beme a survival mechanism for me, " Gay said, "bee psychologilly, I uldn't stand – so the physil pa would alleviate the psychologil pa.

ANTHONY GAY APPEALS FOR HELP OM FERAL PRISON

It beme a vic cycle – until 2018, when Gay got out and began fightg for a law pendg Sprgfield that would lim a prisoner's time solary to 10 days every six months. Frank Chapman of the Chigo Alliance Agast Racist and Polil Reprsn, who attend a pre-trial hearg for Gay on May 9 Peoria, said, “I’ve never heard of somebody reprentg themselv and gettg a hung jury a feral trial. Once aga behd bars he lls “prsive” for yet another crime he says he did not m, activist Anthony Gay is now a North Carola feral prison awag a mental health evaluatn before his September 20 sentencg.

He was released om prison 2019 and had been engaged social jtice issu, such as promotg his Illois SB 3564 Anthony Gay Isolated Confement Rtrictn Act which passed the Hoe but is stuck the Senate.

He was found guilty on May 19, 2022, by an all-whe jury and was sent to the Peoria County Jail before Judge Jam Shadid who nied the motn to move Gay to electronic monorg.

SUPPORTERS RALLY BEHD ANTHONY GAY AT FERAL URTHOE PEORIA

Now, on Tuday, the State Department's new openly gay spokperson will hold his first daily prs the voice of the Bin admistratn on the world stage, whose words will be analyzed foreign pals and provi directn for U.

Diplomats overseas, will be a gay man is unremarkable, which is self a remarkable also sends a potent msage to foreign LGBTQ activists, pecially those fightg untri where same-sex relatnships are still crimalized. "It's credibly important for queer people untri where homosexualy and queerns is a ath sentence, " said Innanoshe Richard Akon, a Nigerian LGBT rights activist and wrer. "It really seems like forever ago, and the untry has changed so many ways and even large swaths of the world have changed, " said Michael Gut, a reer diplomat who beme the first openly gay ambassador nfirmed by the Senate, ls than three years after Hormel's appotment.

Probably won't even know necsarily that someone that posn is gay bee our untry has e a long way regnizg that is one factor many how a person is ma up, " said Gut, who worked on the Bin transn.

STATE DEPARTMENT'S 1ST OPENLY GAY SPOKPERSON SENDS SIGNAL TO THE WORLD, ADVOT SAY

2018 after sufferg a homophobic attack his hometown central Nigeria, agreed, tellg ABC News, "Hopefully this will be the begng of a more humane and kr approach to LGBTQ people om all around the world who are sperate for refuge. Members of the Chigo Alliance Agast Racist and Polil Reprsn led the group chantg, “Free, ee Anthony Gay” and “The people uned will never be feated” before enterg the urthoe for Anthony’s sentencg hearg.

Durg this legislative battle 2020 Gay was arrted a ame-up by the Rock Island Police Department for posssn of a firearm and ammunn, which he was barred om bee of a felony on his rerd. Anthony’s fense lawyer, Jennifer Soble, later noted that his five months at FCC-Butner, Gay spent 90 days on suici watch, engaged self-harm 20 tim, and unrwent 12 surgeri.

At one pot, Gay was transferred to the medil si of the plex, FMC-Butner, where his treatment plan clud beg nied soap and boxers when he exhibed symptoms of his mental illns, and where he ntued to be placed on suici watch. On the send day of the hearg, the prosecutn claimed that Gay’s mental illns should be taken as an “aggravatg factor” the sentencg, meang a reason to lengthen his sentence.

JTICE FOR ANTHONY GAY

The fense poted out that the majory of the charg were aggravated battery charg brought agast Anthony durg his rceratn, when Gay was equently punished for exhibg symptoms of his mental illns.

But spe the judge that se agreeg to make Anthony’s sentence ncurrent, those charg are still clud the lculatn of Gay’s crimal history, which was the basis of the prosecutn’s arguments.

22 YEARS IN SOLARY CONFEMENT: LOOKG AT THE LIFE OF FORMER INMATE ANTHONY GAY

She argued that Gay’s mental illns should be taken as a migatg and not an aggravatg factor, and that g his illns to jtify a lengthier sentence may be a vlatn of the Amerins wh Disabili act. After a brief recs, Judge Jam Shadid returned to the bench, and opened his remarks sayg that Anthony’s mental illns is “both an aggravatg and a migatg factor, ” but that he agre wh the prosecutn that Gay is a danger to his muny. WBEZ reporter Shannon Heffernan brgs the story of Anthony Gay, who was sentenced to seven years prison on a parole vlatn but end up wh 97 years add to his sentence.

ANTHONY GAY AWAS FED SENTENCG WHILE PLANNG ANTI-SOLARY NFEMENT EVENT

Shannon Heffern…:Gay says the same speratn that led him to self-harm, that same need for some kd of stimulatn, any kd of stimulatn, is also what led him to act out agast staff. Anthony Gay:They had no tentns of llg her as a wns, so I lled her as what they ll an adversarial wns or a hostile wns, and put her on the stand and basilly impeached her. Shannon Heffern…:Gay poted out how her earlier ttimony before a grand jury, that he had serly jured the guard, didn’t match the medil rerds that showed there were no juri.

He cid to be a thorn Uphoff’s si about Gay’s Ma:Our early strategy was, we are gog to ntue to say there’s somethg wrong here, and we’re not gog anywhere, and we’re gog to keep talkg about this.

He assumed his assistant would read Ma’s letter, take a few hours to figure thgs out, show Gay and his lawyer how the sentencg was done by the book, and that would be UPHOFF:Then sometime later, our First Assistant back and says, “Boss, might be an issue wh this. Shannon Heffern…:Then when he did start lookg, readg the letter of the law, gettg to the technil parts, appeared the urt did make Gay’s sentence much longer than should have UPHOFF:At that pot, I started to have a b of a skg feelg that this was all wrong.

Shannon Heffern…:The drama that followed, to borrow one of Gay’s quot, had enough twists and turns to send a pretzel maker to Letson:Seth Uphoff knew what he wanted to do, but now he had to get a judge to agree wh UPHOFF:He had been a judge for a long time.

Even Uphoff’s own First Assistant, Randy Yedak, the guy who me back and said, “Hey, boss, I thk they’ve got a pot, ” that guy, Uphoff said he starts tryg to talk him out of movg forward wh relculatg Gay’s UPHOFF:He said at that time, “Why don’t you jt object? Gay’s iend Christopher Knox, who had wrecked up charg jt like Gay, he said this day was the first time a long time that he felt hope that he might make out of prison alive.

Shannon Heffern…:It was impossible at that pot for Uphoff to believe that this cisn about Gay would go unnoticed, but he was still two years away om electn and he hoped maybe by then would be ancient history. This unty has a lot of issu-Shannon Heffern…:Yep, Randy Yedak, Seth Uphoff’s now former First Assistant, the guy who ially looked to Gay’s se, the guy who Uphoff said warned him he wasn’t beg polilly smart when he marched forward wh relculatg Gay’s sentence. ”Shannon Heffern…:Gay says, of urse, staff are horrified when prisoners throw stuff at them, but he believ that if people are really ncerned about staff asslts, stead of prosecutns, they should fix the problems that e people to act out, like poor mental health treatment and segregatn.