This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement:

On July 11, with unanimous bipartisab suppot, the U.S. Senate passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which aims to overhaul oversight of the Bureau of Prisons. The bill has already passed in the House, and now goes to President Biden’s desk. The legislation comes after years of controversy and crisis emerging from the federal prison system, including issues with sexual abuse, understaffing, and unsafe conditions. The text of the bill provides for “Creation of an inspections regime for the Bureau of Prisons,” which, among other things, would demand that prisons provide the Inspector General with information on “the policies and practices relating to the use of single-cell confinement, administrative segregation, and other forms of restrictive housing” as well as “lockdowns at the facility.” The bill now goes to the President’s desk to be signed into law. H.R. 3019 | Solitary Watch’s Katie Rose Quandt recently published an exposé of the rampant use of solitary confinement in the BOP. The American Prospect

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Recent reforms to solitary confinement in Massachusetts prisons are largely superficial, prisoners rights attorney Bonnie Tenneriello argues in a recent article. Under these changes, prisons label containment cells by different names–currently called “Behavior Assessment Units”–and work around definitions of solitary confinement, such as by increasing time out of the cell by an hour. According to Tenneriello, these efforts are not unique to Massachusetts, as correctional facilities, by nature, resist reform. “Can meaningful solitary reform be achieved in a system where surveillance and control are the lodestar and deprivation is pervasive?” she asks. Boston Review 

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A Texas Observer article recounts 200 years of forced labor in state prisons, charting the transformation from slavery, to convict leasing, to today’s prison practices. Currently, 24 Texas prisons still have agricultural operations, with nine taking place on former plantations. The conditions of these prison farms, as well as work-related injuries and deaths, are often concealed and difficult to uncover. The extent to which solitary confinement is used as a punishment for refusing work is also unclear–while solitary is not supposed to be used punitively in Texas, four current or recently incarcerated individuals said the practice is still imposed or threatened. Texas Observer

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Approximately 40 immigrants at New York’s Buffalo Federal Detention Facility (BFDF) went on a hunger strike in protest of BFDF’s punitive measures, including the practice of locking people in cells for around 18 hours a day. According to a civil rights complaint filed on behalf of the individuals, ICE responded to the strike with physical force—placing protesters in solitary confinement and denying them access to jobs and activities. “This pattern of abuse leaves no doubt that punitive confinement at BFDF is the norm, not the exception,” the complaint states. Documented NY  

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A new lawsuit filed against Los Angeles County joins more than 2,000 similar cases alleging instances of sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities. This barrage of lawsuits–representing more than 5,000 adults–comes after the statute of limitations was loosened and reveals long-standing patterns of abuse and negligence. In some cases, solitary confinement was allegedly used as a punishment for youth who did not comply with advances. The Imprint 

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Though a 2018 amendment to Colorado’s state constitution abolished involuntary servitude and slavery in all circumstances, a recent lawsuit alleges that the practice is still ongoing. According to the lawsuit, the Colorado Department of Corrections requires anyone without a medical waiver to work and then punishes those who refuse, including with conditions that resemble solitary confinement. On July 10, two plaintiffs asked a state judge to grant class certification to the lawsuit, and to post notice of the suit in all state prisons where the practice takes place. Law 360 UK

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In a submission to Missouri Prison Reform, Mike Lester, a current resident at Jefferson City Correctional Center, detailed the poor conditions of solitary confinement there. During Lester’s recent stay, he experienced unsanitary and unsafe conditions, such as missed showers and flooded cells. According to Lester, residents were also denied access to the Law Library, to books, and occasionally to required recreation. Missouri Prison Reform

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Ridgeway Reporting Project grant recipient Kevin D. Sawyer recently published a commentary detailing the importance of uncensored prison journalism. “But if we can’t spotlight what’s happening behind bars, who can?” he wrote. “The truth about what takes place in prison has to come from jailhouse lawyers, journalists, writers and artists.” Prison Journalism Project | In an effort to financially support writers impacted by the carceral system, Haymarket Books began a Writing Freedom Fellowship earlier this year. The inaugural cohort includes 20 writers, who are currently producing work both directly and indirectly related to incarceration. Prism Reports   

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