New this week from Solitary Watch:

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

Three of the officers involved in the vicious beating and subsequent death of a handcuffed man, Robert Brooks, at New York’s Marcy Correctional Facility, had previously been accused of similar attacks across the state. According to an ongoing lawsuit, one of the officers, Nick Anzalone, joined other officers in brutally assaulting an incarcerated individual named Adam Bauer as he exited a bathroom stall. The officers involved then stuffed Bauer into a van and took him to an infirmary where they told a nurse Bauer had harmed himself. When Bauer returned to the prison, the officers filed false disciplinary charges and locked him in solitary confinement for 60 days until a prison official reversed the decision, the lawsuit says. “You’re in their world when you get there,” said Bauer. “They do what they want.” New York Times

The Biden administration agreed to settle a lawsuit lifting a COVID-19-related “intake ban” at the controversial Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, which oversaw the alleged use of toxic chemicals, denial of basic civil rights, and deaths of nearly a dozen detained persons between 2011 and 2020. A judge implemented the ban in April 2020 as part of the class-action lawsuit by detainees against the detention center, the Department of Justice, former Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf and ICE. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), individuals contemplating suicide are placed in solitary confinement instead of receiving treatment, which is known to have “potentially fatal effects.” The decision to lift the ban comes ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who pledges to conduct mass detentions and deportations. Law and Crime

President Joe Biden announced he would commute the death sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life without parole ahead of the inauguration of  President-elect Donald Trump, who is a longtime supporter of capital punishment. Biden upheld the death sentences of three men, whose cases he described as “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.” Washington Post | It remains unknown whether the 37 people resentenced to life without parole will continue to be isolated in long-term solitary confinement on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana, where death-sentence individuals have long been held. In 2023, the ACLU of Indiana filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, arguing the prolonged solitary confinement of individuals on federal death row constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Indiana Public Media

Prison lockdowns across the country are making it difficult for incarcerated people to communicate with their families and loved ones during the holidays. Lockdowns restrict individuals’ access to out-of-cell time, phones, and computers, making it hard for people to contact those outside of prison. Lockdowns are supposed to be reserved for dangerous situations but are often utilized for months on end for reasons such as being short-staffed, leaving incarcerated individuals isolated in solitary confinement. Askia Afrika-Ber, an individual incarcerated for 20 years in federal prison, noted that lockdowns are common during the holidays. “Last year, we wasn’t allowed to use the telephones,” said Afrika-Ber. “and I’m certain the same is going to happen now.” NPR

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