New this week from Solitary Watch: 

Jailhouse lawyer and investigative journalist Sara Kielly describes her experience representing a client, Née, who was facing time in solitary confinement for a disciplinary infraction. Using New York’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act, Kielly was able to keep her client out of restrictive housing. “Without HALT and my zealous advocacy permitted by that law, Née would have been thrown into a solitary confinement cell,” she stated. However, the recent suspension of portions of the HALT Act, in response to an illegal “wildcat strike” organized by prison staff earlier this year, threatens the ability of lawyers and advocates to keep people out of solitary. Solitary Watch

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

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency and ordering “violent offenders who require the highest degree of security” to be transferred to Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. To address the current lack of bedspace at Angola, the order also paves the way to reopen the prison’s notorious Camp J. Prior to its closure in 2018, Camp J held four cell blocks with over 400 solitary confinement cells. Baton Rouge Advocate | To appease demands by the Trump Administration to house more detained immigrants in Louisiana, the plans for Camp J may include using it for ICE detention, modeled after the facility in Florida known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” NOLA 

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Jeffrey Cintron, 47, sued the Rhode Island Department of Corrections for holding him in a solitary confinement cell “no bigger than a parking spot” for over two-and-a-half years. According to the MacArthur Justice Center, which represents Citron in a federal lawsuit, “years of isolation led to mental illness, including anxiety and depression; self-harm, including pulling out his hair and badly injuring his hand by bashing it against the wall; and weight loss of almost 70 pounds. This deterioration was exactly what Defendants intended, having told him that they would ‘bury [him] alive’ and keep him in solitary until he was no longer ‘normal.’” MacArthur Justice Center | In a landmark decision, a federal appeals court ruled in his favor, agreeing that years of solitary confinement violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, the court found that prison officials should have known he was at “serious risk of deterioration,” and are not entitled to “qualified immunity” in the case. First Circuit Court of Appeals

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At New York’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Joseph Dresmond has spent upwards of 21 hours a day “just sitting in a cell, baking,” during the state’s summer heat waves. Many of New York’s prisons lack air conditioning, and lockdowns caused by a wildcat strike earlier this year have left incarcerated people across the state trapped in extreme heat. New York Correctional Association Executive Director Jennifer Scarfie described how “you could stand in front of someone’s cell and just feel hot, humid air pouring out,” during her visit to Marcy Correctional Facility on a 90-plus-degree day. Isolation in these conditions poses a greater threat to vulnerable populations, like those whose psychiatric medications place them at a higher risk of heat-related illness. New York Focus 

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New data shows a significant increase in the number of deaths in New York state prisons in 2024, including double the number of suicides. Although the number of people incarcerated in New York has decreased over the last few years, the rise in suicides suggests worsening mental health conditions. The use of isolation on incarcerated people who struggle with mental health has been identified as a red flag in relation to the number of suicides. Such conditions led to the death of 38-year-old Army veteran and father Zechariah Squires, who took his life while in solitary confinement at Coxsackie Correctional Facility. THE CITY 

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San Diego County will pay $4 million to the mother of Lester Daniel Marroquin, a 35-year-old man who died by suicide in Central Jail in 2021 after prison staff moved him from the jail’s psychiatric unit into solitary confinement. U.S. District Judge William Hayes wrote that jail staff “caused Mr. Marroquin’s death” by transfering him to administrative segregation despite  his history of self-harm and suicide attempts. San Diego Tribune

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A lawsuit filed on behalf of Jessica Risinger, 38, alleges that she was placed in solitary confinement as punishment for her mental illness while at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility. According to the lawsuit, Risinger had chemical agents used against her and was denied access to clothing, toothpaste, and showers over the four months she spent in and out of solitary confinement before being isolated on “therapeutic watch.” Her complaint states that officials ignored her history of a traumatic brain injury, bipolar disorder, and childhood sexual assault by a police officer, leaving her to believe “the only way to escape the solitary confinement cell was to try to behave like she was not struggling.”  Santa Fe New Mexican 

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Cincinnati imam Ayman Soliman filed a lawsuit seeking his immediate release from ICE detention after being placed in solitary confinement for what he claims was “targeted harassment” by officials due to his religion. Jail officials state that Soliman spent three days in “segregated detention” after becoming combative with staff who denied his request to lead a group prayer in a section of the facility that was off limits to detainees. Cincinatti.com | Soliman, who worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, was originally detained by ICE in July after his asylum status was revoked due to his work for an Egyptian charity that the FBI claims is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Cleveland.com  

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Senate Democrats released a 30-page report on the results of a national survey that details how  LGBTQ+ youth living in institutional settings are regularly subjected to bullying, discrimination, and solitary confinement due to their identities. Youth described residential treatment facilities as hostile environments, including one account from a young person who claimed staff said they were “only identifying as a lesbian because they hadn’t had sexual contact with a man before.” In a press release, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) stated that 130 personal accounts recorded by the survey “make clear that LGBTQIA+ kids are suffering from extreme isolation in residential treatment facilities and being abused and discriminated against.” Imprint News 

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As President Donald Trump continues to create a more precarious environment for journalists by making threats and filing defamation lawsuits against news outlets, incarcerated journalists face lesser legal protections due to the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The Clinton-era policy is purportedly intended to stop courts from being burdened by “frivolous lawsuits” from incarcerated people. However, many believe the law was enacted despite “a lack of evidence that incarcerated people file baseless lawsuits any more frequently than anyone else,” as one attorney put it. Incarcerated journalists often face retaliation from prison officials for their work, making their lack of access to legal recourse all the more critical. Freedom of the Press Foundation 

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Action Alerts

Solitary Watch is looking for fall interns to help with the organization’s projects, research reporting, and outreach efforts. The application deadline is August 15. To learn more about the position and how to join our team, please see the “Internships and Volunteer Opportunities” page under the “About” tab on our website. Solitary Watch. 

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