North Carolina corrections chief David Guice wants more than $20 million to improve the treatment of people with mental illness in the state’s prisons. His request comes on the heels of two recent reports showing neglect and abuse of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities in North Carolina, and the death in custody of one such individual, […]
UPDATE (September 18, 2014): Solitary Watch received the following statement via email from North Carolina Department of Public Safety spokesperson Keith Acree: The evolving lockdown situation at Scotland Correctional Institution has affected about 600 inmates in close custody regular population housing. The medium custody (~540) and minimum custody (~240) populations have not been affected nor have […]
Lawyers at North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of eight people held in solitary confinement at Central Prison against officers and administrators at the facility. As reported by the Associated Press: A federal lawsuit on behalf of eight inmates at North Carolina’s Central Prison alleges correctional officers used “blind spots” out of view of security cameras […]
An excellent article on solitary in North Carolina–the first of its kind, that we know of–appears in the current Indyweek of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. “What Life Is Like in Solitary Confinement at North Carolina’s Central Prison,” by Billy Ball, describes conditions in the intensive control unit, or ICON, at the prison in Raleigh. The piece focuses on […]
On July 16th, inmates at Central Prison, Bertie Correctional Institution and Scotland Correctional Institution launched a hunger strike in protest of various prison conditions, including solitary confinement. North Carolina Department of Corrections currently holds over 7,000 inmates out of approximately 36,000 in “Close Custody.” Among these are inmates are those held in Maximum Control, Protective […]
Prison activists are holding a call-in day in support of eight inmates held in solitary confinement at Central Prison in North Carolina. According to their account: On December 16th, 15 prisoners working in the kitchens at Central Prison, in Raleigh, sat down on the job in protest of the hours, lack of gain time, and working […]
This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: Nebraska children are spending increasing amounts of time in solitary confinement. According to a recent report from the state’s Inspector General on Child Welfare, in the last year the number of children in solitary in the state’s youth facilities has increased by 44%. The report […]
This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: Approximately 55 percent of incarcerated people in solitary confinement in Virginia have been there for more than 15 days. Whether in solitary for disciplinary violations or “their own protection,” many of these individuals live in dangerous conditions and face abuse from staff. One man in […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: The Guardian recently published an article detailing the ways in which Solitary Watch Editor-in-chief Juan Moreno Haines, who does his job while incarcerated at San Quentin, is helping to revolutionize the field of prison journalism. In a message to readers last week, Juan talked about why it is important […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: Only two days remain in November, when all donations to Solitary Watch will be TRIPLED through NewsMatch. Donations in any amount are deeply valued and appreciated. Please consider making a donation today. ___________________________________________________________________________ This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: In mid-October, as part of a […]
This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: A lawsuit originally filed by incarcerated people pro-se documents severe constitutional and human rights violations by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in a unit called the Security Threat Group Management Unit (STGMU) at State Correctional Institution Fayette. The lawsuit alleges that 30 to 40 mostly […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: A new article originally published in Truthout, by Solitary Watch contributor Victoria Law, examines the impact of recent judicial and legislative decisions in California on the future of solitary confinement in the United States. Throughout the article, Law provides context for the recent California Ninth Circuit decision to a […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: In the most recent edition of Voices from Solitary, incarcerated artist and activist Timothy Young writes about his struggles living on California’s Death Row. According to Young, life on Death Row often entails frequent lockdowns, strip searches, and handcuffing whenever a person leaves their cell. Throughout the essay, Young […]
Incarcerated writer Kwaneta Harris writes that after seven years in solitary confinement, “Reading has been my lifeline… after seven years in solitary confinement. With my earplugs jammed in deep—sometimes too deep—I’ve read books, magazines, and newspapers and found respite amid tortuous conditions. That includes no air conditioning, TV, or recreation.” But at the Lane Murray […]
This week’s roundup of news on solitary confinement: Last week, a coalition of House Democrats introduced new legislation that would broadly ban the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities. If made law, the End Solitary Confinement Act would limit the use of solitary confinement to a maximum of four […]
This morning, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) and a coalition of progressive House Democrats introduced a sweeping bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, aimed at all but eliminating the use of solitary confinement in federal facilities and offer incentives to states to reduce solitary as well. Advocates release the following press release on the bill. […]
This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: Texas has one of the highest rates of solitary confinement use in the nation. Of the more than 3,000 Texans in solitary state prisons, 500 of them have been there for over a decade, causing severe damage to their psyche and well-being. “I’m already isolated […]
In our society we’re taught to exile the “dark” or “shadow” side of our human nature even farther into the darkness. We push the hurt, wounded psyche into the depths of our shame, where we hope to hide it from everyone at all costs. Prisons are a form of collective exile, a place where we […]
Todd Ashker, an organizer of the Pelican Bay hunger strikes and lead plaintiff of a lawsuit that led to significant changes in California’s use of solitary confinement, has been held in solitary for nearly six years since the changes went into effect. Last week, a federal judge ruled that Ashker’s placement in solitary was an […]
At the “Restorative Housing Unit” in New Jersey’s South Woods State Prison, staff have reportedly been using brute force and encouraging fights between incarcerated people. The so-called Restorative Housing Units were created in 2019 by the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, which placed limits on solitary confinement, but advocates say the units are no different than […]
New from Solitary Watch: Katie Rose Quandt, senior contributing writer at Solitary Watch, reports on Republicans’ complaints on the treatment of January 6 defendants at the D.C. Jail. Republican legislators have vocally criticized the use of solitary confinement on those allegedly involved in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but have remained silent […]
• The Marshall Project reports that Alabama prisons are in “deadly disarray” one week into a work strike organized by incarcerated people. Two men have been stabbed to death since the strike began, and one man was allegedly beaten by guards and put in solitary confinement for his role in exposing the strike. Last week, […]
Photo: Alicia Barraza, whose 21-year-old son died by suicide while held in solitary confinement, speaks to other advocates gathered in the New York State Capitol in 2020 to lobby state legislators to pass the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. (Courtesy of the #HALTsolitary campaign.) This article is co-published with The Nation. On February 13, at Wende […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: • The Arkansas Department of Corrections has secured $75 million to add new 458 prison beds, partially funded through unused federal COVID-19 funds, reports Katie Rose Quandt. Anti-mass-incarceration organization DecARcerate insists, “when we no longer hold those too poor to buy their freedom, address the failure to appear in a […]
The BOX is billed as an immersive and transformative theater experience that takes audiences inside a solitary confinement unit in a U.S. prison. The “End of Isolation Tour” is bringing the play to ten venues across the country this summer, with cast and crew traveling in a converted school bus. It is intended as “a […]
New this week from Solitary Watch: • In the latest installment of The Word, a monthly dispatch from Solitary Watch, Juan Moreno Haines writes about the ongoing use of solitary confinement in San Quentin prison as a failed COVID-19 preventative measure. Haines describes how all programming has been severely curtailed since the epidemic began, and how […]
In May 2021, Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania became the first jurisdiction in the United States to ban nearly all uses of solitary confinement by a referendum of the county’s voters, following years of abuse allegations and multiple suicides at the county jail. The new policy was supposed to go into effect in December, but, as […]
• The Washington Post Editorial Board published an opinion piece discussing the ongoing, 27-year solitary confinement of Dennis Hope, stating, “Solitary confinement is a sanitized term for torture.” The article describes Hope’s pleas to the Supreme Court, and highlights that the last phone call he was permitted to make was in 2013, when Hope’s mother passed […]
n excerpt of the conversation, which has been edited for clarity and length. This interview was published in partnership with The Appeal.