Anthony Gay’s s solary nfement led to self-mutilatn. Now a proposed law to lim prisoner isolatn Illois is named his honor.

Contents:

• AFTER 22 YEARS OF 'PSYCHOLOGIL TORTURE' IN SOLARY CONFEMENT, ANTHONY GAY FIGHTS FOR STATE LAW RTRICTG ITS USE
• ANTHONY GAY’S S SOLARY NFEMENT LED TO SELF-MUTILATN. NOW A PROPOSED LAW TO LIM PRISONER ISOLATN ILLOIS IS NAMED HIS HONOR.
• ANTHONY GAY APPEALS FOR HELP OM FERAL PRISON
• GAY V. STATE OF ILLOIS
• SUPPORTERS RALLY BEHD ANTHONY GAY AT FERAL URTHOE PEORIA
• FORMER IDOC MATE ANTHONY GAY TALKS SOLARY NFEMENT AT NPEP TRANSFORMG CRIMAL JTICE ROUNDTABLE
• 22 YEARS IN SOLARY CONFEMENT: LOOKG AT THE LIFE OF FORMER INMATE ANTHONY GAY
• ILLOIS’ ANTHONY GAY ISOLATED CONFEMENT REFORM BILL PASS HOE

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

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.

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.

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.

Shortly after the isolatn started, Gay began self-mutilatg and attemptg for 23 hours a day and starved for human ntact, Gay took extreme steps to get attentn. 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.

ANTHONY GAY APPEALS FOR HELP OM FERAL PRISON

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.

GAY V. STATE OF ILLOIS

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. After spendg 22 years solary nfement, Anthony Gay is tryg to make sure no other prisoner Illois has to experience the same level of trma that he went is the face of the state's Anthony Gay Isolated Confement Act, a bill veloped over the last 10 years that would lim solary nfement to no more than 10 days per six-month perd. "The worst part is beg trapped a cell 24/7, not beg able to receive social ntact and human ntact, " said Gay, who was released om prison 2018 after reprentg himself over 80 appeals before he was able to reta the help of a 's path to solary nfement began when he was 20 years old.

SUPPORTERS RALLY BEHD ANTHONY GAY AT FERAL URTHOE PEORIA

"After spendg 22 years solary nfement, Anthony Gay is tryg to make sure no other prisoner Illois has to experience the same level of trma that he went, of Rock Island, Illois, said he was arrted durg his probatn for drivg whout a license. "When we learned about Anthony Gay's suatn and how impacted him mentally, and what he had to do to get out of solary nfement, was vastatg, " said Ford.

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.

FORMER IDOC MATE ANTHONY GAY TALKS SOLARY NFEMENT AT NPEP TRANSFORMG CRIMAL JTICE ROUNDTABLE

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. In May, 2020, Gay said he was asslted by Rock Island police, and when he reported the cint, he said they retaliated and filed “tmped up” charg agast him. 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.

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

While held solary by the Illois Department of Correctns (IDOC) for nearly two s, Anthony Gay’s severe mental illns worsened, and the extreme isolatn whout any signifint treatment of his mental illns triggered horrific self-mutilatn and a lengthy prison stay that amounted to torture. As a teenager, Anthony Gay robbed a fellow teen of his hat and a dollar bill, which land Gay prison odyssey spanned 24 years, durg which he was locked solary nfement Illois prisons for 22 to 23 hours a day, cut and slashed parts of his own body more than 500 tim prott, was strapped naked to metal bed am whout food, and, on a grim day 2010 durg what urt rerds state was extreme mental lirium, sliced off part of his tticle and tied to a cell days ago, Gay, now 44, woke up solary the prison’s mental un. ”She had rented a small U-Hl trailer, and Gay load about a dozen large rdboard box jammed wh thoands of urt documents and letters that fueled his urt battl for s.

Anthony Gay Gee Pawlaczyk Gay expected to die prison bee of a long seri of felony asslts on guards that nsisted of throwg body waste or yankg back on chas.

Reviewg the prison sentenceBut attorneys Stt Ma of the Bluhm Legal Clic at Northwtern Universy Chigo and Jennifer Soble of the Fair Punishment Project reviewed a seri of 17 asslts on guards by Gay, mostly Livgston County where he was then held at Pontiac Prison, and termed that the nsecutive sentenc were improper. Prisons Program for the Natnal Relig Campaign Agast Torture, said, “Gay’s succs society pends on creatg a support system and asssg rourc to help the transn. Every day gets a b easier, ” Perez to talk eely whout guards listeng , Gay told a visor he believ his basic abily to pe the prison system started about 1994.

ILLOIS’ ANTHONY GAY ISOLATED CONFEMENT REFORM BILL PASS HOE

”‘The only way I uld feel anythg’The Department of Correctns sent Gay to Tamms 1998, and there he enuntered the most extremely rtricted environment the entire prison system. That one relatnship helped sta him, he sudnly, Gay was returned to Pontiac, which has been listed urt documents as the send worst environment the state prison system.

”Gay entered the Illois Department of Correctns 1994 as a young man, nvicted of robbery after brawlg wh another teen who told police that Gay took his hat and stole a sgle dollar bill. Shortly after the segregatn started, the cuttg and suici attempts 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.

The Amerin Correctnal Associatn — the anizatn that provis expected practic for prisons across the untry — issued new standards 2016 that lled for lims on rtricted hog, cludg a provisn that prisoners wh mental illns should not be placed solary nfement for an extend IDOC spokwoman cled to ment on Gay’s rceratn or the treatment he received.

The Tribune tablished a timele of his nfement by reviewg thoands of pag of urt documents, medil rerds and ttimony transcripts and nductg terviews wh Gay, his relativ, his lawyers, prosecutors and prison experts. A feral judge orred the Illois Department of Correctns October to improve s mental health servic — a groundbreakg lg ma after Gay ttified about his troublg treatment Gay’s telligence and an extraordary abily to articulate his mental terratn solary nfement, his lawyers believe he uld be a pivotal voice the growg prison reform movement. ”A rough begngGay’s early fay life his native Rock Island wasn’t always was raised a workg class neighborhood by an nt and uncle who adopted him, although his blogil mother, who had endured stggl of her own, lived the same Quad Ci town along the Mississippi River.