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

The New York City Board of Correction (BOC), the city’s jail oversight body, condemned the Department of Correction for secretly constructing a new high-security unit on Rikers Island that may violate Local Law 42, which mandates incarcerated individuals spend 14 hours outside of their cells daily. The new Special Management Unit, which has the capacity for 40 individuals and already houses five, restricts individuals to only seven hours of out-of-cell time. BOC members expressed concern over the unit’s lack of access to the law library, health clinic visits, and recreational time. “It seems like a keg of dynamite ready to explode,” said Board Chair Dwayne Sampson. NY Daily News | Four of the five people currently incarcerated in the unit confirmed to BOC members that various minimum standards for care, including out-of-cell time, were not being met. Although conditions in the unit clash with Local Law 42,  Mayor Eric Adams, who opposes the law, issued an executive order indefinitely suspending its implementation. Queens Eagle 

A new Justice Department report found systemic failures in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) contributed to the death of hundreds of incarcerated people over the years. According to the report, an examination of 187 suicides found several individuals received incorrect or inadequate mental health assessments and were placed in solitary confinement, which is known to heighten the risk of suicide. In response, the FBOP acknowledged the need for improvements, specifically in mental health care assessments, but maintained that it’s already taken “substantial steps” toward decreasing preventable deaths. AP

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2026 budget includes plans to invest $2 million into expanding the partnership between the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the Correctional Association of New York (CANY). CANY is the only third-party oversight organization in the state with unrestricted access to the state’s prisons. In October 2022, CANY found that Marcy Correctional Facility’s Residential Mental Health Units were violating the guidelines of the HALT Solitary Confinement law by isolating individuals in solitary confinement for over 15 days. PRISM | Eric Johnson, who was previously incarcerated at Marcy, filed a lawsuit against the facility, DOCCS, and several corrections officers alleging excessive force, false imprisonment, and other civil rights violations. According to the lawsuit, Marcy Correctional staff allegedly planted drugs on Johnson, beat him, had the Office of Special Investigations prosecute him, and isolated him in solitary confinement for weeks as he awaited transfer to another facility. CNY Central Marcy is the same prison where multiple correctional officers have been indicted in the December beating death of Robert Brooks, which was caught on camera. The officers are expected to be arrested and arraigned this week. Albany Times Union

A person incarcerated at Henry County Adult Detention Center in Martinsville, Virginia, filed a lawsuit against the facility and several of its staff for allegedly isolating him in solitary confinement for 16 months. Plaintiff Waylon Cox-Ingram claims he was moved into solitary confinement in October 2023 with no explanation after two months without incident in the general population. Cox-Ingram has been isolated for nearly 24 hours a day ever since. “These dehumanizing conditions are detrimental to Mr. Cox and have caused him severe and irreversible harm,” the lawsuit states. Martinsville Bulletin

The son of a woman who died in an Alabama jail is suing the city of Birmingham and others for allegedly refusing to provide emergency medical treatment that would have prevented her death. According to medical records included in the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s mother, Angela Karen Langley Kimberly, was isolated in solitary confinement for seven days after testing positive for COVID-19.  While in isolation she received no treatment or medications for the infection. Although Kimberly was taken out of isolation upon testing negative for COVID-19, her condition worsened in the following days until she was found unresponsive one morning. The lawsuit claims staff neglected to call for emergency medical assistance “until several hours after her death when rigor mortis had set up in her face and extremities.” Law and Crime

Action Alerts for the week:

On Thursday, Feb. 20, Human Rights Watch and the Unlock the Box Campaign will host a virtual panel on the reality of solitary confinement and its devastating effects on individuals, communities, and the criminal legal system. The panel will feature survivors of solitary confinement, legal experts, advocates, and researchers who will lead conversations on the inhumane practice and its human rights implications. The event is free, but registration is required via Eventbrite. Unlock the Box 

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