New this week from Solitary Watch:

Elizabeth Hawes is an incarcerated journalist, playwright, poet, gardener, and actress whose work examines women’s incarceration and its effects on children. Hawes’ most recent article vividly illustrates the invasive and traumatizing practice of constant strip searches and drug testing at the Minnesota State Women’s Prison at Shakopee. The article was published in the Fall issue of Lux Magazine with support from Solitary Watch’s Ridgeway Reporting Project. Solitary Watch 

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

In a recently filed statement of interest, the U.S. Department of Justice asserted that “the federal government recognizes that children are developmentally and constitutionally different than adults and that excessive isolation causes children unique and significant harm.” The statement is part of an ongoing lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois involving allegations that children, including those with mental health and trauma histories, are held in prolonged isolation at the Mary Davis Detention Home. Over the past year, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has been involved in similar investigations and legal cases against more than a dozen facilities in Connecticut, Texas, and Kentucky. Legal Newsline 

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When Amos Fenderson harmed himself for the third time in less than a month, the Peoria County Jail determined that he did not need to go to the hospital. Instead, they placed him in a restraint chair. The next day, Keith Clark was placed in a restraint chair in an adjacent cell following a hospital stay for self-harm-related injuries. Both men spent the next four days in restraint chairs. Illinois Answers Project | The experience of Fenderson and Clark is not unique. The year before, Travis Wade Branden was restrained in a chair for 68 hours following a mental health episode at the Franklin County Jail. An investigation by the Illinois Answers Project found that county jails restrain people in chairs more than 1,000 times per year. The practice violates numerous state and facility policies and calls into question the oversight mechanisms in place for Illinois county jails. MindSite News 

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Phillip Zimbardo, the social psychologist behind the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, died on October 14 at the age of 91. Dr. Zimbardo’s research into human social dynamics focused on themes of power, evil, and heroism. In 1971, Dr. Zimbardo transformed the basement of Stanford’s psychology building into a prison, turning rooms into cells and a tiny closet into solitary confinement. Students were hired to play the roles of guards and incarcerated people. The participants’ behavior, especially the brutal treatment by “guards,” was taken as evidence of the toxic nature of prisons, and of the power dynamics and dehumanization the prison environment creates. New York Times

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Using ripped sheets, towels, and clothing to construct “fishing” lines, incarcerated people in solitary confinement have developed an intricate and collaborative system to trade precious items like snacks, stamps, and soap. “Human survival has always depended on our ability to cooperate creatively,” says formerly incarcerated journalist Matthew Azzano. “You literally have to think outside the box.” In a new animation of a story supported by Solitary Watch’s Ridgeway Reporting Project, Azzano describes the process and meaning behind receiving these goods.  The Marshall Project

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The first report from the new Santa Cruz County Office of the Inspector General calls for a “fully transparency accounting” of the in-custody deaths of three men and sexual assault of another.  As soon as litigation in the cases allows, the sheriff’s office must present the “factual details” and a “comprehensive corrective action plan to address the performance or systems deficiencies identified.” Specifically, the report calls on officials to address public concerns surrounding conditions at the Santa Cruz County Jail including the treatment of people with mental illness and the rationale for the use of solitary confinement. Lookout Santa Cruz

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A new report alleges staff at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility engaged in a pattern of abuse against detained immigrants, including the prolonged use of solitary confinement. Plymouth is the only county in Massachusetts that contracts with ICE, and it currently houses more than 400 detained immigrants. One Jamaican citizen who was detained at Plymouth for more than a year stated that the conditions at the facility were poor by design, to deter people from fighting their deportation cases. WBUR

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Incarcerated journalist Christopher Blackwell and Empowerment Avenue co-director Emily Nonko assert the critical importance of supporting the groundbreaking journalism produced behind bars. Throughout the pandemic, incarcerated writers worked with advocates and journalists on the outside to publish accounts of the horrific conditions inside prisons and jails across the country. Over the last four years, the number of incarcerated journalists and the audience for their stories continues to increase. However, many readers do not realize that these journalists must overcome tremendous communication barriers and risk punishments like solitary confinement to publish their work. The Nation

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In a recently published piece, Ghostwrite Mike tells the story of Greg Sturm, who spent over 22 years in solitary confinement on California’s death row. In the piece, Mike describes the emotional and psychological toll of solitary confinement, which was brought to the surface when Strum entered the prison yard for the first time. Now serving life without parole, Strum has earned college degrees and now works with incarcerated youth. “For two decades California pursued the execution of a person they’ve now hired to mentor offenders in emotional regulation and self control.” Davis Vanguard 

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Banner photo copyright Richard Ross, from Juvenile In-Justice.