Overview

"On March 26, 2021, sixty-four-year-old Frank De Palma testified before the Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would reduce the use of solitary confinement in Nevada prisons. Few people are better qualified to speak to the horror of solitary than De Palma himself, who spent twenty- two years and thirty-six days in a darkened cell inside Nevada's Ely State Prison. ""I'm one of the few that came back,"" he told subdued legislators. But solitary confinement was just one aspect of his prison nightmare, which began when he was just eighteen. A troubled teen, he tried to avenge the senseless killing of his beloved dog, landing him in the courtroom of a hang em' high judge. Though no one had died or even been injured by his actions, he was sentenced to ten years in the Nevada State Prison, with a release in two years for good behavior. Determined to do his time and go home, he quickly learned it wasn't that simple and was thrust into ""kill or be killed"" situations that forced him to become a warrior. His acts of desperation tacked decades onto what ultimately became a forty-three-year sentence. Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary: The Battle for My Soul in a U.S. Prison is a stunning expose of justice run amok, of the casual corruption and depravity inside prison walls, and of one man's lifelong determination to survive it, and reclaim his humanity."

Full Product Details

9798990355316

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Horrendous prison conditions have long been conveniently ignored by U.S. lawmakers. The abusive use of solitary confinement, however, has at least begun to be acknowledged and is sparking efforts at legislative reform. Such campaigns will receive a major boost from Never to Surrender! Mr. De Palma tells a remarkable story of suffering but also of resilience. His book is powerful evidence that long-term isolation is torture-a torture that not only hurts the victim, but also calls into question our belief in ourselves as a moral and just society."" -Juan E. Mendez, Professor of Human Rights in Residence, Washington College of Law, and Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010-2016) ""The day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, sanitation workers marching in Memphis carried signs that said, 'I am a man.' Frank De Palma is a man. A man who was treated like an animal, forced to endure the worst form of torture: isolation. Frank De Palma languished in solitary confinement for 22 years and 36 days in a prison not in some far away land, but right here in the United States. Across those 22 years he battled for his brain, for his sanity, for his life, for human connection. His is a story of tragedy but also of the fierceness of the human spirit."" -Angela Hattery, Ph.D., Professor, University of Delaware, and coauthor of Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement ""In a 'life or death and no in-between' prison, with constant violence and threats of rape, a man has to fight, be enslaved or die. Frank De Palma's grit permitted him to survive the fights only to be punished with 22 years of solitary confinement. His toughness and integrity earned him the respect of prison gladiators and guards alike, and now, free at last, he provides a thrilling and seamlessly vibrant account of the entire ordeal, including lessons from 'Inside' that offer invaluable wisdom about our human condition."" -Terry A. Kupers, M.D., M.S.P., author of Prison Madness and Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation ""Never to Surrender! is a gut-wrenching tale where solitary confinement is used to torture and destroy what is left in a person who is trying to survive prison-and the people who run it."" -Karen Gedney, M.D., author of 30 Years Behind Bars: Trials of a Prison Doctor ""Frank De Palma's new book is a tour de force. Frank's ability to share his story is almost seamless and simply amazing. Like many books from ex-convicts who have been lucky enough to survive prison-let alone solitary confinement-Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary, The Battle for My Soul in a U. S. Prison takes us inside; inside of what those 22 years and 36 days really were like. HELL! Highly recommend; a must-read!"" -Earl Smith, Ph.D., Professor, University of Delaware, and coauthor of Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement"

Author Information

"Frank De Palma was incarcerated for forty-three years in the Nevada prison system, for an initial nonviolent charge. During this time, he was held in solitary confinement at Ely State Prison for twenty--two years and thirty-six days. Since his release in 2018, he has advocated for the abolition of solitary confinement and for humane treatment of prisoners. In March 2021, he testified before the Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee about his experience in solitary. He has been featured in numerous articles, including ""The Marshall Project"" ""Solitary Watch"", and has appeared in short films about solitary confinement produced by Al Jazeera and the Irish film production company, Wonderbread. Frank lives in Reno, Nevada, with his little cat, Fatty. Mary Buser is an award-winning author of Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York's Notorious Jail, based on her work in the Rikers Island mental health department. An advocate for criminal justice reform, she is Codirector of Social Workers & Allies against Solitary Confinement, and has written numerous articles, appearing in The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Politico, and New York Daily News. Mary lives in Brooklyn, New York."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available