Journalists have obtained video footage of a force feeding at a Colorado federal prison after more than three years of litigation. The footage shows Mohammad Salameh being force fed in 2015 in ADX Florence’s H Unit, one of the country’s most restrictive housing units, in which individuals are barred from nearly all communication with the outside world. “What’s depicted in these exclusive videos,” writes Aviva Stahl, “reveals how correction officers and Bureau of Prisons medical staff operate when they have no fear of public scrutiny.”  The Nation

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New York legislators wrote a letter to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) last week criticizing its new regulations for violating the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. Enacted in December, the regulations allow people to be placed in solitary for a broad range of disciplinary infractions, even though HALT states that a person must pose a “significant risk of imminent serious physical injury” to others to qualify for isolation. “DOCCS must make additional substantial changes in order to comply with the law,” the letter  states.  New York Focus

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A federal judge has announced plans to fine California up to tens of thousands of dollars each day it continues to fail to implement court-ordered suicide prevention measures, which include suicide risk evaluations and routine checks on vulnerable individuals. Over 200 incarcerated people have committed suicide in California prisons since the measures were ordered in 2015. One such individual was John Pantoja, who was repeatedly put in solitary confinement before he took his life in June.  Desert Sun 

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Formerly incarcerated women rallied outside the Texas State Capitol last Wednesday on International Women’s Day to protest solitary confinement and other inhumane conditions of confinement in Texas prisons. Marci Marie Simmons, an organizer of the rally, recounted the first time she was taken to solitary, as a result of comforting a crying woman in violation of a policy against physical contact. “You hear a lot of ladies crying out at night,” said Simmons. “Just the need to be heard… it’s heart wrenching.”  KXAN

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Competency reviews, which are designed to help people with severe mental health issues, often trap them in jail where their conditions may worsen, an investigation finds. Rachel Bridgeman, who was deemed incompetent to stand trial by the district court, spent nearly two months at Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Jail awaiting a bed at a treatment center. During her time at the jail, Bridgeman was tased, placed in solitary confinement, and injected with antipsychotic drugs.  Spotlight PA 

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A study published in SSM – Population Health examines the relationship between mental illness and self-harm among a cross-section of men subjected to solitary confinement in Louisiana in 2017. Using mediation analysis, the study found that among individuals in solitary, each additional punishment was associated with a 12.6% increase in the odds of self-harm.  Science Direct | Context: The data used in the study comes from a 2019 report co-authored by Solitary Watch, Loyola University, and the Louisiana ACLU, which surveyed incarcerated individuals in Louisiana about their experiences in solitary.  Solitary Watch 

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Keramet Reiter, professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California Irvine, looks at the recent wave of legislation limiting solitary confinement and correctional agencies’ efforts to circumvent such legislation. Noting the cycle of “public scrutiny, critique, regulation, resistance, and retrenchment” that has persisted in the face of efforts to end solitary, Reiter points to the necessity of “outside the box” reforms that challenge the deprivation-based model of incarceration.  OnlySky

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A commentary from the Washington Post’s Editorial Board argues that Virginia’s solitary confinement bill does not go far enough to curb solitary. The bill was passed in the state’s General Assembly last month after being watered down by legislators and is now on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk.  Washington Post | Ashna Khanna, policy director of the Virginia ACLU, points out shortcomings in the final version of the bill, including the removal of a 15-day cap on solitary and the restriction of a four hour out-of-cell time requirement from all units to so-called Restorative Housing Units.  Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Jennifer Kszepka recounts her first night in solitary confinement as a teenager three decades ago. Because she was the youngest person at the prison, Kszepka explains, prison officials decided to put her in solitary until she turned 18. During that first night, she found herself longing for a cold glass of milk. Of the guard who denied her request, Kszepka writes, “Nor will I ever forget the mixture of confusion, compassion and heartbreak that registered upon her face as she responded ever so kindly, ‘Honey, you can’t have any milk.’”  Prison Journalism Project