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

A man in Florida’s Bay County Jail was placed in solitary confinement on the highest level of suicide prevention, but received no additional medical treatment or counseling after attempting suicide. Eleven days after his arrest, Daniel Bennett removed both of his eyeballs with his own hands while experiencing a psychotic episode. After raising claims for negligence and violation of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, a U.S. District Court judge found that Bennett’s rights were not violated, stating that the mental health counselors who assessed Bennett acted with “ordinary negligence, not deliberate indifference.” The case is now awaiting a decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Courthouse News

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A man in ICE detention was put in solitary confinement for “inciting a group demonstration,” ICE officials claimed. Edin Daniel Chinchilla-Roque, on the other hand, only participated in a hunger strike at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania after witnesses saw a detained man throwing up green vomit with no help being offered. Prior to the protest, Chinchilla-Roque had been writing to his attorney frequently describing the terrible conditions he and others faced at Moshannon, including rotten food containing worms and insects, lack of medical or dental attention, and no basic amenities such as toilet paper and hand soap. “I just feel like this have been like a punishment for everything I’ve been saying, for the information I put out of the prison. Because this is a horrible situation. I won’t give up,” Chinchilla-Roque stated about being put in solitary. One week after he was released from solitary, Chinchilla-Roque was transferred, along with several other men who participated in the protest. Spotlight PA 

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A recent study published by Human Rights Watch revealed that 52 people have died in ICE custody since President Trump took office. This death rate is the highest seen in over a decade, and nearly four times higher compared to the Biden administration. Even accounting for the increase in immigration detention promoted by President Trump, the study revealed that the surge in deaths is even higher than what would be expected for the number of people in detention. In a statement to ICE; federal, state, and local governments; private detention contractors; and the United Nations, Human Rights Watch formally recommended ending prolonged solitary confinement in immigration detention. Over 10,500 people in ICE detention facilities were placed in solitary during a 14-month period, with the number of people in solitary rising an average of 6.5% per month immediately following President Trump’s inauguration. Human Rights Watch

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People with serious mental illnesses continue to be isolated in Colorado jails, despite previous legislation passed attempting to limit the practice across the state. Boulder Reporting Lab and Bolts recently published findings from investigations into Colorado jails, detailing the shortcomings of Colorado’s 2021 legislation, which attempted to place safeguards against solitary for people with mental disorders. In reality, these alternative practices are not commonplace. Records show judges almost always approve requests for isolation, often because other options for less restrictive environments, such as hospitals, are not available. Boulder Reporting Lab | Additional reporting by Bolts details the traumatizing experiences many with diagnosed mental disorders have faced in Colorado state prisons. One man recently diagnosed with schizophrenia was placed in solitary for 33 straight days, leading to permanently damaging self-harm. A woman spent two months alone in her cell, leading to multiple psychosis episodes and the denial of basic necessities, such as soap and menstrual products. Another woman’s time in solitary triggered her schizoaffective disorder, both exacerbating her already vulnerable mental health conditions and creating new symptoms of PTSD. Bolts Mag 

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Two incarcerated individuals died within three days at the Birmingham City Jail in Alabama. While Kendall Sweaver was found in the general population, Kaleena “Peaches” Croskey was in solitary at her time of death, and had been for some time as she identified as a transgender woman. According to the Deputy Chief of Public Safety, transgender individuals are never housed with other incarcerated individuals, unless there is no other option. “They were not statistics. They were not case numbers. They were human beings and they deserve to be spoken about with care and compassion,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin stated about Sweaver and Croskey. Birmingham Times

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After spending extensive time in solitary confinement, a man set fire to his isolation cell in the Daviess County Detention Center in Kentucky in what he says was an attempted suicide. According to his family, there were over a dozen incidents at the Owensboro jail in which Christopher Katz was denied adequate evaluations or medication changes for his documented mental health disorder, instead being repeatedly placed in solitary confinement. “Rather than receiving the level of mental health treatment his condition required, he continued to struggle with worsening symptoms, anxiety, racing thoughts, sleep deprivation, and emotional instability,” Katz’s sister stated. Lexington Herald Leader

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Kenneth McFarland was eating a peanut butter sandwich in his solitary confinement cell in Tennessee’s Haywood County jail, when he began choking on his food and lost consciousness. Staff attempted to perform lifesaving measures on McFarland after noticing he was choking on a video camera, but he died shortly after. An autopsy is being performed on McFarland in Memphis. WBBJ

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Incarcerated men in Louisiana State Penitentiary have been forced to perform dangerous and intentionally degrading labor while in extreme heat. While a judge ruled that men in the penitentiary, who are predominately Black, were being forced into unconstitutional and dangerous conditions, the court provided no protections against future harms. “What is happening on the Farm Line is modern-day slavery, and neither our Constitution nor our collective conscience should tolerate it,” said Samantha Pourciau, Senior Attorney at the Promise of Justice Initiative. Promise of Justice Initiative Press Release | Incarcerated people are often forced to work under threat of solitary confinement, and those who organize labor strikes have also been thrown in solitary. Solitary Watch

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