Updated Sep 10, 5:30 PM; Posted Sep 10, 5:13 AM
By Jillian Atelsek, Special to PennLive
On paper, Chris Kimmenez has every tool you’d think he needs to recover from the ordeal. He’s a former Marine with a hardened shell, a pastor with a deep faith in God’s ability to shepherd him through even the most difficult times, and a practicing psychologist with a nuanced understanding of the brain’s reaction to stress.
But it’s been more than 20 years since he was locked in solitary confinement, and he said the nightmares still haven’t stopped.
“I tell people all the time,” he said, “I have more trauma from six months in solitary than I have from four tours with the Marines.”
Still, he considers himself one of the lucky ones. He has a job, a family and his sanity. And now, he’s part of a group fighting for a Pennsylvania law that would limit the use of segregated housing in prisons across the state and require more robust mental health programs to help the people sent there.
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