Caron Butler Visits CT Capitol to Advocate for Limiting Use of Solitary Confinement

Former NBA star Caron Butler traveled to the Connecticut state Capitol to lobby for the passage of a bill that would place limitations on the usage of solitary confinement at the state's prisons.

Butler urged Gov. Ned Lamont to sign legislation passed by the Connecticut General Assembly that would limit the use of isolation and solitary confinement.

The issue hits close to home for Butler, who was placed into solitary confinement for two weeks when he was in juvenile detention as a 15-year-old.

"Being in those four walls and those four corners, it does something to you," he explained to the Associated Press' Pat Eaton-Robb. "Mentally and spiritually, it takes away a lot. It dehumanizes you."

Writing for The Players' Tribune in 2015, the two-time All-Star recounted how he wound up in solitary after fighting a fellow inmate. He explained how his time alone allowed him to find the motivation to turn his life around after having been arrested more than 12 times before he entered high school:

"During the two weeks that I was in solitary confinement, I reflected on the sacrifices my mother made and knew that I had to become a better man. I wanted to make her proud. I wanted her to be able to say, “That’s my son,” with a smile on her face rather than tears streaming down her cheeks. I spent many hours alone, writing her letters about my desire to make necessary changes in my life."

Butler argued solitary confinement can exact a significant cost on those who have to experience it.

"To lock someone up, and put you away in solitary confinement for 23 hours, letting you out for 30 minutes for hygiene and things like that ... [with] no access to the outside world ... it takes a toll on you," he said at a news conference.

Butler went onto star at the University of Connecticut and was the Big East Player of the Year in 2002. He then spent 14 seasons in the NBA, collecting a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

The Connecticut Senate passed Senate Bill 1059 by a vote of 26-10, but Lamont has yet to sign the bill into law. The bill would mandate that those in Connecticut's state prisons are entitled to a minimum of six and a half hours each day outside of their cell except in the case of an emergency.