IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Solitary confinement in California: Worse than Iran?

An American who spent 26 months as a hostage in Iran has found a new cause: exposing the conditions for prisoners in solitary confinement in California prisons.
Reporters inspect one of the two-tiered cell pods in the Secure Housing Unit at the Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011.  (Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
Reporters inspect one of the two-tiered cell pods in the Secure Housing Unit at the Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17,...

An American who spent 26 months as a hostage in Iran has found a new cause: exposing the conditions for prisoners in solitary confinement in California prisons.

Shane Bauer was one of three American hikers imprisoned in Iran after being apprehended on the Iraqi border in 2009. He recently visited California's Pelican Bay prison, which has made national headlines following a hunger strike by more than 2,300 inmates.

"Specifically when you're looking at solitary confinement, I would definitely say that the situation in California is more extreme," Bauer told msnbc's Chris Jansing on Jansing & Co. Thursday, comparing it to his more than two year incarceration in Iran.

Watch the full interview with Shane Bauer: