This year’s findings of information and remarks about solitary confinement:
The significant abuse that transgender people in prison are subjected to is documented in a new document from the Vera Institute of Justice and Black & Pink. Of the 280 responders across 31 states, 90 percent stated they had been placed in solitary confinement. Due to the group’s special needs, existing housing policies fail to adequately address the needs of transgender incarcerated people, and reforms are challenging to implement. While 66 percent of imprisoned trans people say they wish to remain housed in women’s facilities, so do 58 percent of transgender people. Addressing the needs of transgender people in prison “goes against the way that prisons operate, which is having a second set of rigorous laws that are applied arbitrarily for everyone,” according to Jennifer Pierce, a senior scholar at Vera. The Appeal
Civil rights organizations have voiced serious opposition to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ latest proposal to restrict access to social media for incarcerated people. According to the proposed law changes, “accessing, using, or maintaining cultural media, or directing others to build or retain social media accounts on the prisoner’s representative” would be a High-Level Security Violation and result in solitary confinement, damages to offense eligibility, and other punishments. The Appeal | Advocates expressed concern that the policy would “affect” the First Amendment rights of people who are not even in BOP custody, as well as “would also appear to be an overreach.” No changes are imminent, according to BOP spokesman Kristie Breshears in a statement, and the final proposal will be revised in accordance with public feedback. Reuters
U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver determined that Arizona’s solitary confinement practices were in violation of the constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment in June 2022, following a decade of litigation. She imposed a solitary confinement order on the Arizona Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ADCR) a year ago, and she imposed an injunction that would require them to re-acquaint themselves with the basic human standards of the Constitution. Since then, the ADCR has made significant progress, including preventing solitary confinement for vulnerable groups. However, there is still a long way to go to bring the state into compliance. ACLU
Inmates still face punishment for refusing to participate in work programs despite Colorado’s vote to outlaw forced prison labor from the state’s constitution in 2018. According to Colorado Department of Corrections guidelines, incarcerated individuals are required to work unless they are enrolled in an approved training program. The price of mandatory work ranges from 33 cents to $2 per hour, and those who don’t can work may lose their privileges or be put in isolation. There have been over 700 documented instances of incarcerated people being punished for refusing to work since 2018 according to a 9News investigation. In response, some advocates are now turning to litigation to ensure CDOC is held accountable to the state’s constitution. Bolts
Legislators in Illinois are considering a law that would significantly restrict the use of solitary confinement. The Nelson Mandela Act, which would only permit a person to spend 10 days in solitary confinement within a 180-day period, was recently passed by the House Judiciary Criminal Committee. After the 180-day time period has passed, a person may continue to be subject to disciplinary segregation, but they must also be required to spend at least 4 hours each day outside of cell time. WGEM
In a recent essay, incarcerated writer and Ridgeway Reporting Project Grant recipient Kwaneta Harris examines how the Texas Department of Criminal Justice attempts to control women’s bodies by limiting knowledge access. Harris has been denied access to a variety of reading materials, including copies of Good Housekeeping and books on healing childhood, because they contain material that infringed TDCJ guidelines, throughout her time in solitary confinement. TDCJ directly inhibits women’s ability to improve their minds and sense of self by restricting them in solitary access to reading material. Lit Hub
Get the latest news and commentary from the past seven days of solitary confinement in your mailbox every Wednesday. Subscribe today.
Your support makes the work we do possible. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation—large or small—today.
Sara Vogel
Sara Vogel is a contributing writer at Solitary Watch as well as an associate editor and project manager. She is currently completing a master’s of science in Justice, Law, and Criminology at American University in Washington, DC, where her work focuses on the lasting impact of the War on Drugs and the intersection of drug policy and mass incarceration.
Help Expose the Hidden World of Solitary Confinement
Truthful reporting and accurate reporting can be effective defenses against injustice and ignorance. We have contributed to raising awareness, mainstream media coverage, and informed decision-making in a once-unseen domestic human rights crisis.
Only with your help can we carry on this groundbreaking work that brings light to the most obscure corners of the criminal justice system in the United States.
