In the past week, it’s been difficult to resist slipping into dejection or even despair, as we look toward an uncertain and in many ways frightening future. 

But resist we must—not only for our own well-being, but for the sake of those who live in even more precarious and dangerous conditions, and who will need our strength and solidarity now more than ever.

At Solitary Watch, of course, we think about those who reside in the darkest corners of the U.S. criminal legal system. What does the future hold for people in prison, especially people in solitary confinement—and what can we do about it? 

Fortunately, there is still hope for change to be found at the state and local levels, where the vast majority of people in this country are incarcerated—and where the fight to limit or end the use of solitary remains a winnable issue. Laws passed in New York and several other states and litigation in California and elsewhere, along with grassroots activism across the country, have already freed thousands of people from solitary confinement. Solitary Watch has led the way in documenting both the positive changes and the challenges to implementing reforms, and in the coming year we will be releasing a groundbreaking series of reports on alternatives to solitary confinement.

At the same time, if Donald Trump’s rhetoric translates into action—and we should believe that it will—we need to be prepared for growing federal prison and jail populations, and a parallel increase in the number of people in solitary confinement by the federal Bureau of Prisons. We will continue to expose the widespread use of solitary in BOP facilities and efforts to curb it, and will bring you the voices of people enduring brutal isolation in federal prisons.

We should also expect to see an explosion in immigration detention, where vulnerable migrants are frequently placed in solitary for failing to obey orders (in English) that they don’t understand, or for protesting their dismal conditions through work stoppages and hunger strikes. We will shortly be releasing a new entry in our indispensable fact sheet series on Solitary Confinement in Immigrations Detention. 

Finally, in the coming years, it will be more important than ever to listen to the people living on the frontlines, in prisons, jails, and detention centers across the country. Our support for incarcerated writers—led by our Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines, who works from behind bars at San Quention—is among the most important work we do, and we are planning to dramatically increase that support in 2025.

In fact, it’s clear that in the current environment, we’ll need to double our efforts in all areas—and to do this, we need your support. Right now, you can double your impact through NewsMatch, which will match all donations up to $1,000, through the end of 2024.

Support Solitary Watch Today, and Your Donation Will Be Doubled

In these difficult times, please remember that there is still good, important work that we can accomplish together. Every voice that emerges from the depths of solitary confinement is a triumph against the forces of darkness and silence. And every person who gets out of solitary is a soul freed from torture. You can help us make this happen. 

Jean Casella, Director

Juan Moreno Haines, Editor-in-Chief