Seven Days in Solitary [7/12/2015]

by | July 12, 2015

The following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in other Solitary Watch posts.

• A man formerly incarcerated on Rikers Island has won a $750,000 settlement from the city after his six-day erection was left untreated. Rodney Cotton, 50, who was in solitary confinement at the time, says he asked repeatedly for adequate healthcare but was denied it.

• Fourteen plaintiffs in an on-going lawsuit against conditions at Florence ADX, have alleged that officials at the prison are ignoring their own newly-developed policies when it comes to mental health. According to the 200-page amendment complaint, people who are mentally ill are still being held at the supermax facility, instead of being transferred, and conditions at the facility cheap ativan online still constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

• North Carolina’s public radio published an investigation into conditions at Durham County jail, focusing particularly on cell “lock backs” that functionally constitute solitary confinement.

• Immigrants held in a detention facility outside Denver have filed a lawsuit against the private company that runs the center, the GEO Group. The plaintiffs allege they were threatened with solitary confinement if they refused to work, and they were paid as little as $1/day.

• The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a man held in solitary confinement decades after participating in a prison riot, may sue for a due process violation. Lumumba Incumma has remained in isolation despite not committing a single disciplinary infraction for 20 years.

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