Dear Friends:

At about this time last year, we published a commentary called “What Will It Take to End Torture in U.S. Prisons?” In it, we called out solitary confinement for what it is: “the largest incidence of mass torture in the United States today.”

This massive assault on the minds, bodies, and spirits of tens of thousands of incarcerated human beings must be stopped—and can be, given the right amount of public awareness and engagement, and the political will.

The idea of solitary as torture—a concept absent from the public consciousness just a decade ago—has been steadily gaining ground, propelled by evidence-based information, investigative journalism, and firsthand accounts of life in solitary.

No one has done more to further these advances than Solitary Watch.

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES OUR MISSION POSSIBLE. PLEASE DONATE TODAY.

In the coming year, Solitary Watch will continue its unique and vital work, providing the information, analysis, and narratives that change hearts and minds—and laws and policies—and lives.

Our plans for next year include a deep investigation of the use of solitary in federal prisons; a groundbreaking series of reports on alternatives to solitary; and more work than ever before by incarcerated writers and journalists.

But we can’t do any of this without your help.

Donations from individuals make up a significant and irreplaceable portion of our yearly income. Solitary Watch is run with virtually no overhead, and has always had an outsized impact relative to our small size and budget—so you can be sure that your generosity is being put to good use.

HELP US BRING AN END TO THE TORTURE BY MAKING A DONATION NOW.

If you make your gift before December 31, it will be doubled by NewsMatch, up to $1,000 per donation. And if you choose to make your gift recur monthly, every one of your donations throughout the year will be doubled.

Before the year ends, please give what you can to help us end the torture taking place, today and every day, in prisons and jails across the country.

With gratitude and best wishes,

Jean Casella
Director, Solitary Watch