残酷但并非不寻常(4)

Everyone knows that prison is supposed to take away your freedom. But solitary doesn't just confine your body; it kills your soul. And it makes it hard to ever live among other people again.
Because of the way I left prison, based on the outcome of a court case, I had no advance notice of my release date. I was in Upstate, a supermax prison way up by the Canadian border. I was in solitary confinement when a guard came to my cell one morning and said, "No breakfast today. You're getting out." I was handcuffed and searched, and then brought to the gate, where I was uncuffed, asked to sign a paper, and given a bag of my property and $40.