American Civil Liberties Union

Billy McCarthy is the singer and songwriter for the band We Are Augustines. Many of the songs on the band’s critically acclaimed album Rise Ye Sunken Ships were inspired by McCarthy’s brother James, who suffered from mental illness and took his own life after spending five years in solitary confinement in a California prison.

In this podcast, McCarthy talks about what it’s like to have a family member confined to solitary and the tragic outcome.