Solitary Watch

by Francisco Rodriguez

December 4, 2024

This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: No fewer than six incarcerated men at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia burned themselves with makeshift devices in recent months, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. Red Onion is a supermax prison many formerly incarcerated people describe as physically and racially abusive, with […]

by Jean Casella and Juan Moreno Haines

December 3, 2024

Dear Friends: For tens of thousands of people locked away in U.S. prisons and jails, the extreme deprivation and isolation of solitary confinement causes unimaginable suffering. One person living in solitary described his existence to us as “a soul-destroying loneliness that never ends.” In these conditions, even the smallest human connection can make a difference—and […]

by Kilhah St Fort

November 27, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Marking Native American Heritage Month, our Voices from Solitary series features an essay by Charles Longshore, is a Skokomish Tribal member serving time in the Washington State prison system. A fierce advocate for his people, Longshore points out that Native Americans are underrepresented in nearly every segment of U.S. […]

by Jean Casella and Juan Moreno Haines

November 26, 2024

In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November is when we take a moment to reflect on the things we’re thankful for. There’s power, both profound and humbling, in putting words to the things that get us through the tough times. But not everybody’s tough times are the same, and not all gratitude carries […]

by Voices from Solitary

November 26, 2024

The author of this piece, Charles Longshore, is a Skokomish Tribal member who is nearly 13 years into a 35.8 year sentence in the Washington State Department of Corrections. Longshore is a founding member and board of directors chair at the Judicial Second Look Coalition and one of the key authors of the Judicial Discretion […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

November 20, 2024

This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: A whistleblower at Baker County Detention Center, an ICE facility near Jacksonville, Florida, reported a trend of systemic human rights violations. The whistleblower’s testimony recounted staff routinely refusing incarcerated individuals basic medical care, fabricating reports to save face, and fostering a culture of racial and […]

by Sara Vogel

November 13, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Across the country, progressively minded individuals have struggled to hold on to hope following the re-election of Donald Trump. In the wake of last week’s election, Solitary Watch Director Jean Casella and Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines provide insight on their vision of the path forward for the fight to […]

by Jean Casella and Juan Moreno Haines

November 12, 2024

In the past week, it’s been difficult to resist slipping into dejection or even despair, as we look toward an uncertain and in many ways frightening future.  But resist we must—not only for our own well-being, but for the sake of those who live in even more precarious and dangerous conditions, and who will need […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

November 6, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Solitary Watch Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines, who is currently in his 28th year of incarceration at San Quentin, examines the 2024 presidential election and what election day means to the approximately 4 million American citizens like him who are barred from voting over felony convictions. His commentary analyzes the […]

by Juan Moreno Haines

November 4, 2024

This commentary is the latest in “The Word from Solitary Watch,” our series of dispatches by Solitary Watch staff and contributors. • As the United States prepares to choose its next president, I am toiling through my 28th year of incarceration. It is with Election Day fast approaching that I consider the famous 1852 speech […]

by Sara Vogel

October 31, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Elizabeth Hawes is an incarcerated journalist, playwright, poet, gardener, and actress whose work examines women’s incarceration and its effects on children. Hawes’ most recent article vividly illustrates the invasive and traumatizing practice of constant strip searches and drug testing at the Minnesota State Women’s Prison at Shakopee. The article […]

by Elizabeth Hawes

October 29, 2024

The following article is the latest piece supported by Solitary Watch’s Ridgeway Reporting Project, written by incarcerated journalist, playwright, poet, gardener, and actress Elizabeth Hawes. In this piece, Hawes vividly illustrates the invasive and traumatizing practice of constant strip searches and drug testing at the Minnesota state women’s prison at Shakopee. Below is an excerpt […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

October 23, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: In the latest piece supported by a grant from Solitary Watch’s Ridgeway Reporting Project, published by Slate, incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby exposes the shocking treatment endured by incarcerated people with mental illness, among others, in several Texas prisons. His article details the dehumanizing conditions suicidal incarcerated people experience in […]

by Jeremy Busby

October 21, 2024

In the latest piece supported by a grant from our Ridgeway Reporting Project, incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby exposes the shocking treatment endured by incarcerated people with mental illness, among others, in several Texas prisons. An excerpt appears below; read the full piece on Slate. • • • • • • • • • • I […]

by Sara Vogel

October 16, 2024

This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has some of the most extensive restrictions on the types of texts available to incarcerated people. Beyond their bans on nearly 10,000 books, the TDCJ recently refused to allow Lupe Constante access to a copy of his own […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

October 9, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: In the latest entry in our Voices from Solitary series, James Daly reflects on four and a half decades of incarceration, examining the effects of prolonged solitary confinement on himself and those around him. His piece explores the suffocating nature of restrictive housing, detailing how isolation in supermax prisons, […]

by Voices from Solitary

October 7, 2024

I first met James Daly when covering a story for San Quentin News about what it meant to be a youth mentor at this prison. He told me a story about arriving here from his previous prison, which had a service dog training program. He was torn, but happy to be part of the youth […]

by Kilhah St Fort

October 2, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Sara Kielly, an investigative journalist, jailhouse lawyer, recipient of a Ridgeway Reporting Project grant from Solitary Watch and with support from Empowerment Avenue, provides coverage from the inside of New York State’s resistance to implementing the groundbreaking HALT Solitary Confinement law at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women. Despite […]

by Sara Kielly

September 26, 2024

The latest article supported by Solitary Watch’s Ridgeway Reporting Project for incarcerated journalists was published yesterday by the local news site New York Focus, which has provided unparalleled coverage of the state’s resistance to implementing the groundbreaking HALT Solitary Confinement law. Additional support for the article was provided by Empowerment Avenue, an organization that works […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

September 25, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Madeline Wren takes an in-depth look at the work of Citizens for Prison Reform, a Michigan-based advocacy group working to reform solitary confinement in the state with its Open MI Door campaign. Her article examines how the campaign often employs uncommon methods to expose legislators and the general public […]

by Madeleine Wren

September 23, 2024

Richard Nelson spent three and a half years isolated in solitary confinement in Michigan. Without access to the phone, his closest reminder of humanity was the eternally present “hysterical yelling and incoherent babbling” that echoed through the halls. Even as a self-described “outgoing and optimistic” individual, he struggled with intense detachment from reality.  “I began […]

by Kilhah St Fort

September 18, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch: Victoria Law, a freelance journalist and Solitary Watch contributor, explores how the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the cruelties of incarceration in her latest book Corridors of Contagion. Featuring testimonies from five people incarcerated across the United States, the book combines storytelling with cutting-edge analysis of the structural failures of the […]

by Victoria Law

September 17, 2024

Just published last week, Corridors of Contagion is a searing new book by Victoria Law, an author and freelance journalist focusing on the intersections of incarceration, gender, and resistance (and a contributor to Solitary Watch). Her previous books include Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences […]

by Francisco Rodriguez

September 11, 2024

This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement: Immigrant detainees are subject to “inhumane conditions” within Pennsylvania’s largest ICE facility, which is riddled with human rights violations according to a new report by Temple Law students and Juntos, a Philadelphia-based immigration advocacy group. The report, In the Shadow of the Valley, found migrants […]

by Sophia Chang

September 5, 2024

New this week from Solitary Watch:  Kevin Sawyer, an incarcerated journalist, writes about what Black August means to him. Originating in 1979 in honor of the incarcerated activist George Jackson, Black August commemorates the legacy of Black liberation fighters, political prisoners, and revolutionary leaders, especially those behind bars. Sawyer writes that has observed Black August […]

by Voices from Solitary

August 30, 2024

The following piece, co-published with Davis Vanguard, is written by incarcerated journalist Kevin D. Sawyer. For 24 out of his 28 years in prison, Sawyer has observed Black August, a month that commemorates the legacy of Black liberation fighters, political prisoners, and revolutionary leaders. Black August originated in 1979 to pay homage to George Jackson, […]