New this week from Solitary Watch:

Marking Native American Heritage Month, our Voices from Solitary series features an essay by Charles Longshore, is a Skokomish Tribal member serving time in the Washington State prison system. A fierce advocate for his people, Longshore points out that Native Americans are underrepresented in nearly every segment of U.S. society except in state and federal prisons, where they are incarcerated at four times the rate of our white counterparts. They are even more overrepresented in so in solitary confinement. Longshore writes that while in prison, “I learned my heart was full of pain and grief from my past harms and generational traumas carried on. I have seen firsthand that I was not alone. My other brothers fell deeper into their depression, often leading us into places like solitary confinement.” He continues, “It’s time, brothers and sisters, that we right the ship, right the historical wrongs, and begin reclaiming our traditions, our culture, and our ways as Indian people. Spirituality is key to our rehabilitation. Our identity as Indian people must be loved, honored and cherished.” Solitary Watch

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

A mother is suing Trinity County, California, after her son Joshua Garbutt died in custody in January. According to investigators, Garbutt began suffering from fentanyl withdrawal soon after he was taken into custody. According to the lawsuit, as his symptoms worsened, he had a seizure and began to vomit and defecate. In response to his request for medical attention, jail staff placed him in solitary confinement. Able to hear Garbutt’s cries for help, other individuals in custody called for staff assistance. After two days in solitary, Joshua Garbutt died alone with nothing but a bucket of his own vomit. Jail officials have yet to respond to inquiries about the facility’s policy on providing medical service to those incarcerated. KRCR

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Since the start of the year, six people at Virginia’s infamous supermax Red Onion State Prison have burned themselves in a “desperate attempt” to be transferred out of the prison. For more than two decades, the horrific conditions at Red Onion have been documented. Earlier this year, the state passed legislation to create a position within the Office of the State Inspector General to monitor prison conditions. However, local advocates argue that independent oversight is necessary to protect incarcerated people. In October, Prison Radio posted an audio recording by one of the men who allegedly burned himself. He stated “I don’t mind setting myself on fire again. This time, I would set my whole body on fire before I have to stay up here and do the rest of my time up here.”  The Appeal

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In an opinion piece, Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman addresses the allegations of juvenile department officials placing children in solitary confinement. As a member of the Juvenile Board, Sommerman has advocated for more information about the use of isolation while pushing for the elimination of such practices. He states, “I, for one, want to know that society will be left in the hands of a generation less traumatized than the previous one.” Dallas Morning News

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A recent report by Human Rights for Kids revealed that Maryland is one of the worst states in terms of youth incarceration. The report offers several policy and procedure recommendations, including a prohibition of solitary confinement for children in all facilities. Nearly 98% of respondents said they have been placed in solitary confinement, and about 80% of them said that happened while they were children. “Maryland is faced with a simple choice,” the report states. “On the one hand the state can look the other way, continuing to incarcerate children who act out behaviorally due to abuse, neglect, and community violence, or it can seek to address the root of the problem by showing these children something many of them never had before—love.” Maryland Matters

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In 2006, Cynthia Mendoza gave birth to her eldest child while shackled to a hospital bed. After three days with her newborn son, jail officials handed him off to her father. Already suffering from postpartum depression, Mendoza was sent back to solitary confinement. Her story is one of many that served as impetus for the creation of the Mandela Act, an attempt to limit the use of solitary and outlaw it entirely for pregnant and other vulnerable people. However, after the Mandela Act was vetoed in 2022 by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a much narrower and weaker bill was passed and signed into law this past September, allowing pregnant people to be held in solitary for up to five days, causing many of the original sponsors of the Mandela Act to withdraw their endorsements. While the fate of the Mandela Act is still uncertain, community organizers vowed to continue the fight to end solitary confinement in California. Bolts Magazine 

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The Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice has decided to end its contract with the Jackson Parish jail, which had been used to house youth that are incarcerated pre-trial. Advocates, attorneys, and inspectors from the state Department of Children and Family Services report that children at Jackson Parrish are regularly maced by guards over minor verbal altercations, held for days on end in solitary confinement, and denied education. This is particularly concerning because the contract was created in September 2023, when OJJ was forced to hastily transfer youth out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola after horrific conditions were found. Advocates remain skeptical as OJJ plans to transfer the remaining children in custody from Jackson Parish to other state-run facilities. The Lens

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As debates around the ERASE Bill in Washington DC continue, two solitary survivors and organizers, Herbert Robinson and Cinquan Umar Muhammad of the Unlock the Box DC campaign, gathered to discuss the impact the bill could have if passed. Cinquan Umar Muhammad defines solitary confinement as mental, physical, psychological, and emotional torture. Herbert Robinson seconds this statement by explaining that those in isolation are denied access to their phone privileges and personal belongings. In addition, incarcerated individuals are often placed in solitary for perceived acts of disobedience such as taking an extra tray of food. As Mansa Musa, the interviewer and another solitary survivor, puts it, “All three of us have been in solitary confinement. We’re not talking about this as a theory…We all lived this experience and we are campaigning against it.” Real News Network

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In an opinion piece, solitary survivor and Pulitzer Prize winner David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez discusses the importance of access to education and technology in recidivism efforts. Having entered prison at 17 years old with a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit, Gonzalez couldn’t read or write. His education journey began in solitary confinement. Due to the harsh environment, he didn’t want to rely on others to read his mother’s letters to him. He attributes his success to having found a mentor he could communicate with through the bars of his cell. Gonzalez also had access to digital learning programs. Unfortunately, this reality is not universal. “The system views learning as a privilege, not a right,” he states, “but denying people access to education fuels a revolving door where individuals come home, cannot find stable employment or reintegrate into their communities, and return to the system.” Philadelphia Inquirer

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