New this week from Solitary Watch:

Jack Jackson is a transgender man currently serving a 20-year sentence in Texas prison, and has been held for the past ten years in solitary confinement. When Jackson entered the Texas prison system in 2014, he was assigned to a woman’s diagnostic unit, and faced harassment from both officers and fellow prisoners. In the latest entry in our Voices from Solitary series, Jackson describes how he began to withdraw, which was only heightened by his placement in AdSeg, leading him to attempt suicide in 2014. Despite the harassment and threats of disciplinary action, Jackson remains determined as he leaves restrictive housing. Solitary Watch

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

In 2021, the Washington Department of Corrections pledged to end the use of solitary confinement as punishment, but a 400-page report based on an independent investigation finds otherwise. The report states that solitary is still widely used for administrative purposes, finding that over 3,000 currently incarcerated individuals have spent more than 45 days in solitary since July of 2022. In the past decade, at least 176 people have attempted suicide in solitary confinement, with 14 dying by suicide. Washington State Standard | Christopher Blackwell is currently incarcerated in a Washington prison, and has been housed in solitary confinement. Blackwell alleges that changes to the use of solitary in Washington prisons have been minimal, and do not match the change the state promised nor the millions of dollars put towards this issue. Washington State Standard

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California Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) sent a press release this past Monday with the news that the California Mandela Act (AB 280), the bill that sought to limit the use of solitary confinement to 15 days in California state prisons, was not moving forward. Holden said that “more change [to the bill] is needed,” and that “holding the bill on the Assembly Floor will allow the Legislature and advocates to review…and use new data to implement the most effective plan of action.” Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a version of the bill in 2022, arguing that it was too broad. KQED | In an email obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Governor Newsom signaled that he was also prepared to veto the latest version of AB 280. The state prison guard’s union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, contributed $1.75 million to Newsom’s campaign in 2021, and has spent $200,000 on lobbying so far this year. San Francisco Chronicle | Meanwhile, the Diocese of Oakland has re-publicized a letter in support of AB 280 signed by many Catholic entities, and urges other faith-based groups to support this “important human rights initiative.” Crux Now

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Two covert prison units used almost exclusively to house people alleged to be connected to terrorism have expanded by nearly 80 percent in 15 years, with a new unit on the way. The Communication Management Units (CMU)s have been called “Little Guantánamos,” and were originally built to house primarily Muslim individuals convicted of international terrorism offenses. Now, formerly incarcerated people say they are being used to punish dissent, with invasive surveillance, little or no communication with the outside world, and unchecked use of solitary confinement. The Appeal

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​​Over the course of six days, about 90 incarcerated men joined together in a mass hunger strike to demand better treatment and services. In February, the hunger strike initially began, and in May, the men in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution decided to join the protests. The men housed in solitary confinement faced long periods of isolation, delays in care, and recreational cages that “are littered with human urine and feces that have soaked into the concrete.” Idaho Statesman

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Two former guards at the Baker County ICE Detention Center in Florida “paint[ed] a bleak picture” conditions at the facility. The facility houses more than 200 detained immigrants, and a report from the ACLU of Florida alleges unsanitary conditions, physical abuse, and the denial of medical care, legal counsel, and sufficient food rations. The guards allege that hunger strikes were common due to the detainees’ desperation, and that collective punishment was used to combat said strikes, by shutting off all running water in the facility. Both of the officers were also “appalled” by the frequent use of solitary and the restrictions placed on those confined. Florida Trident

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A formerly incarcerated woman testified in front of the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee that she gave birth in her underwear while medical staff stood by and failed to provide support. Tiana Hill was incarcerated in Georgia’s Clayton County Jail in December 2019, and up until she gave birth, the staff denied she was pregnant, even though she held them she was pregnant “about fifty times.” Two days after giving birth, Hill was placed in solitary confinement, and three days later, her baby died; Hill was never told why or how. The Appeal

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