Virginia Prison Considered Charging Men Who Burned Themselves to Protest Conditions…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

Seven Days in Solitary for the Week Ending 1/15/25

by | January 16, 2025

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

During 2024, six incarcerated men intentionally burned themselves at Red Onion State Prison in protest of the notoriously abusive conditions at the Virginia Supermax prison, which include regular placements in prolonged solitary confinement. A set of emails recently obtained by The Appeal revealed that Red Onion leadership sought ways to discourage others from self-harming by punishing these individuals instead of addressing the issues that led these men to self-immolate. The proposed punishments included demanding the individuals pay thousands for medical care and pursuing criminal prosecution. “Obviously they think they can gain something from doing that,” wrote Assistant Warden Dwayne Turner in an email. “We need to make sure they know they won’t gain anything.” The Appeal | Advocates gathered outside Virginia’s Capitol last Wednesday to protest in response to the alleged abuse at Red Onion. The advocacy group, Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, called on lawmakers to overhaul the supermax prison and Wallen’s Ridge, another Virginia facility with similar allegations of abuse and prolonged solitary confinement. Delegate Michael Jones (D-Richmond), who visited Red Onion in December after learning of the self-immolations, announced the same day that he is drafting a bill that would limit the number of Virginians sent to prison like Red Onion. Virginia Mercury | A man imprisoned at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison died of natural causes last month according to a Virginia Department of Corrections spokesperson However, the Virginia Prisons Accountability Committee, which first reported the death, alleged that the man had been denied medical treatment while in solitary confinement despite his severe health issues. The death occurred just days after the state’s new ombudsman announced plans to investigate several instances of self-immolation and alleged abuse at the facility. VPM


A complaint filed by lawyers representing a man detained by ICE revealed the abuse, cruel treatment, and torture occurring at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana. According to the complaint, ICE detention officials withheld necessary medical care from Daniel Cortes De La Valle, a Columbian human rights activist who entered the United States as an eight-year-old in 1998. ICE detention officials refused to give Daniel the prescribed medication and treatment for his seizure condition and punished him with prolonged solitary confinement, physical abuse and sexual assault for filing complaints. With his physical and psychological health deteriorating, Daniel requested voluntary deportation to escape the abuse. RFK Human Rights


A new Nebraska bill calls for an end to the “double-bunking” of two people in single-person cells and adds other limits to solitary confinement. Legislative Bill 99, presented by State Senator Ashlei Spivey, would stop the practice altogether unless incarcerated individuals consent in writing. The state of Nebraska has faced multiple lawsuits as a result of utilizing the practice, often in overcrowded prisons. Last year, the estate of the late Kevin Carter, who died at the Nebraska State Penitentiary a week after being “double-bunked” with a convicted murderer, filed a federal lawsuit alleging negligence from Nebraska Department of Correctional Services officials. Nebraska Examiner


Republican Missouri State Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman looks to expand a law banning the shackling of pregnant women in state prisons to include city and county jails. Aside from extraordinary circumstances, her bill would prohibit the use of binds throughout the third trimester, during labor, and for 48 hours postpartum. The bill also restricts the use of solitary confinement on women within the first six weeks after giving birth, when there is an increased risk of postpartum depression. “We have seven years of data that this is a fairly small number of inmates and it is not onerous for (the Department of Corrections) to comply with the law,” Coleman said. “We’re able to help keep women who are incarcerated safer.” Missouri Independent


Olinda Moyd, director of the Decarceration and Re-Entry Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law, contextualizes solitary confinement as a form of torture ahead of the introduction of legislation in Maryland that looks to restrict the practice. She cites the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules, which mandate that all nations restrict their use of solitary confinement to a maximum of 15 consecutive days, to contrast the frequent use of prolonged isolation in Maryland prisons and nationwide. She also highlights how the practice exacerbates mental health struggles and is disproportionately used on people of color.. Maryland Matters


Keith LaMar, in collaboration with Molly Crabapple, released a six-minute animated short film entitled “Injustice of Justice.” The film details LaMar’s life story, framing, and subsequent death sentence following the Lucasville Prison Uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in 1993. LaMar, who has spent over 30 years in solitary confinement on death row and is scheduled to be executed on January 13, 2027, is using the film to pressure Ohio’s governor for clemency and to liberate him from solitary confinement. Justice for Keith LaMar Newsletter


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