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

Numerous transgender women incarcerated in New Jersey and Florida prisons say they are subject to discrimination and solitary confinement. One woman incarcerated in a New Jersey men’s prison reportedly castrated herself while in protective custody, a form of solitary confinement she was forced into out of fear of assault by other individuals. Her experience isn’t unique; various transgender women resort to self-harm after waiting years for gender-affirming surgery, a procedure that would unlock a pathway toward transfer to the state’s women’s prison. Prism Reports | A new Florida prison policy makes receiving gender-affirming medical care nearly impossible for incarcerated transgender individuals. The policy gives prison officials the agency to determine whether or not transgender individuals may continue having access to various care and accommodations. In one case, a woman was placed in solitary confinement for ten days after refusing to cut her hair and then given a buzz cut afterward.  The new policy, which also requires psychotherapy to “treat underlying issues,” “comes off like conversion therapy,” says Daniel Tilley, attorney for the ACLU of Florida, which is suing the state’s Department of Corrections. “We’re trying to change your fundamental nature to get you to stop being who you are.” The Marshall Project

A powerful new digital report by DecARcerate Arkansas, a nonprofit prison justice advocacy group, creates a visceral first-hand experience of solitary confinement and prison life in Arkansas. The report includes numerous graphic images, videos, and witness testimonies of cell conditions, and the tied sheets individuals utilized in their suicides. It also highlights the psychological repercussions caused by prolonged periods of solitary confinement, citing a 2019 Yale University study that reported that over 38% of incarcerated individuals in solitary confinement in Arkansas prisons are isolated for over a year. Arkansas Times

New details in unredacted autopsy reports raise questions about a woman’s death in a Milwaukee jail. The woman, 20-year-old Cilivea Thyrion, died after consuming parts of an adult diaper while on suicide watch in solitary confinement. The reports reveal that correctional officers were aware of Thyrion’s history of eating various objects, but didn’t consider the risk of self-harm. A previous audit of the Milwaukee County Jail had found a lack of supervision over correctional officers who worked the jail’s restrictive housing units. Auditors cited a lack of specificity and clarity in the jail’s suicide prevention policies, stating that “this vagueness hinders consistent and effective implementation of critical procedures, particularly those related to suicide watch.” Wausau Pilot and Review

An Oregon man’s mother has filed a wrongful death and negligence suit after he died by suicide while held in solitary confinement. According to the suit, the man, 22-year-old Grayson James Allen Painter, utilized a bedsheet to hang himself in his cell. The suit also states that correctional officers should have monitored Painter after he had displayed suicidal tendencies, and taken measures to avert potential risks. According to another prisoner in solitary confinement, officers allegedly provoked Painter to commit suicide by shouting, “Why don’t you just kill yourself.” A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Corrections says it is unable to comment on the suit, adding that the agency takes “the care and well-being of all adults in custody sincerely.”  Oregon Live

Tony Vick, an incarcerated person currently serving life with parole in Tennessee, reflects on prison staff’s often intentional negligence in protecting individuals with sex-related convictions, even though they are prime targets for violence. His article analyzes how individuals with such convictions spend the entirety of their sentences either in solitary confinement for protection, being abused and assaulted by other incarcerated individuals, or fighting back. “I’d rather die fighting than be isolated and alone the rest of my life,” one man said. Filter

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