Prison Protests Making a Change

When Prisoners protest is an article written by Wilbert Rideau to bring awareness of unfavorable prison
conditions and the abuse of power by prison authorities. It was written for the opinion pages in the New
York Times and was written on July 16, 2013 and published online on this date. It was then published in
print on July 17, 2013 on page A25 of the New York edition. Rideau who is a journalist, lecturer, and
Capital defense consultant was arrested and convicted of manslaughter in 1961 as a result of a botched
bank robbery. He spent 44 years in prison, in which 12 of them were spent in Solitary confinement.
Rideau would like to see change within the prison system and the article was written to bring awareness
to the public the effects of solitary confinement on prisoners and as a way to jumpstart improvement in
prison conditions. The article was also written to bring to light the abuse of power by prison officials.

Rideau begins his article by stating that there arent many protests in prison that prisoners have little to
gain and too much to lose. Yet, sometimes things get so bad that prisoners feel compelled to protest.
Rideau then discusses a current event that is happening in the California Department of Conditions. This
event is a hunger strike that began on July 8, 2013 involving 30,000 inmates. When Rideau wrote the
article there was still about 2,500 inmates still on strike. The biggest complaint of inmates that were
participating in the protest was the runaway use of solitary confinement. Rideau discusses how protests
are almost always the product of what prisoners perceive to be officials abuse of arbitrary power. He
then goes on to explain the effects that solitary confinement has on a human. He does offer a way to
resolve these issues by allowing prisoners to meet with prison officials and express their concerns without
fear of being reprimanded and explains how this has worked in the Louisiana State penitentiary, which he
stated once was the bloodiest and is now one of the safest of maximum security prisons. He concludes
with why as a society we should be concerned about what is going on prisons.
Rideau uses rhetorical strategies to express his opinion on why prisoners protest and the abuse of power
by prison authorities. He appeals to logos through his use of examples, such as word choice and specific
situations. The words that Rideau chooses to use describe the effects of solitary confinement with terms
that are easy to empathize with, appealing to pathos, in turn building his ethos.
When appealing to logos Rideau uses examples of other prison inmates, such as Thomas Silverstein who
spent 30 years in solitary confinement, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace to show the abuse of power
by officials. He also makes the point that the heart of the problem in prisons is a lack open communication
and freedom of expression. That if prison authorities would listen to inmates, they would understand that
protests are almost always the product of what prisoners perceive to be officials abuse of arbitrary
power. He explains how the Louisiana State Penitentiary was once the bloodiest maximum security
prisons to being one of the safest because the warden and sub-wardens have used inductive reasoning
and have regularly met with inmate leaders to discuss problems that may help them see and consider
non-linear effects of specific actions. Rideau also appeals to logos by explaining why we as the public
should be concerned with the use of solitary confinement and unfavorable prison conditions, his point
being that these people are one day going to be in society and we should concentrate more on the
rehabilitative opportunities to improve the mental health of those in solitary. Some might argue that his
personal experience lessens his credibility, but I would argue that a person can be close to an issue and
still be open minded enough to be objective.
In appealing to pathos as well as ethos Rideau uses an array of language to provoke emotion through
reflecting upon his time spent in solitary. He describes how you live entirely in your own head and how
you lose the ability to make small talk. He describes a time when he himself were in solitary confinement
when he counted the 378 rivets that held his solitary confinement cell together which I think a great deal

of people can relate with. It reminds me of sitting in class counting the holes in each tile of the ceiling out
of boredom. He states that the guard shoves your meal through the slot in the door which only
emphasized the lack of contact with others and the feeling of being alone. He uses words like deprived,
paranoid, depressed, and sleepless when describing how being in solitary confinement made him feel.
Each of these words can lead to different feelings lending the reader to empathize with. The reader may
use their own experiences where they have felt what he is describing, leading to a greater understanding
of why his cause is important.
Rideau uses rhetorical strategies to help the readers better understand what is unfavorable about the
conditions in prison and the effects that solitary confinement can have on a persons mental health and
why this should concern society. Even though Rideau has been released from prison he is still attempting
to help improve these conditions through pro bono public service.