New this week from Solitary Watch:

Solitary Watch Director Jean Casella published an article reflecting on how Norway humanely houses Anders Breivik, the far-right terrorist who killed 77 people in 2011, in a purpose-built two-story suite at Ringerrike Prison, despite his continued white supremacist views. Casella toured the unit as part of a U.S. delegation studying Norway’s rehabilitation-focused system, where officials argue that restriction of liberty alone is punishment enough. She contrasts this with U.S. prisons, where solitary confinement, abuse, and suicide are endemic and 77% of people released are rearrested within 5 years. The Nation

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

One hundred twenty immigrants detained at Eloy Detention Center signed a letter alleging “human rights abuses”at the Arizona facility. The letter, written by 29-year-old Venezuelan migrant Andres David Torres Chirino, describes “appalling and utterly deplorable” conditions and staff who are “unfit for their jobs because, having a degree of authority over us, they abuse the power through malpractice and policies that harm the detainees.” Chirino, who was placed in solitary after threatening to report an abusive guard, claims staff often conduct nine head counts per day to increase the amount of time detainees are locked in their cells. “Physically, it interferes with your ability to prepare your immigration case,” he told reporters. “It’s also psychological pressure designed to wear you down until you give up your case.” Arizona Daily Star

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Five incarcerated people are suing the Oregon Department of Corrections for violating the state’s constitution by practicing prolonged solitary confinement and denying “medical, mental health, and disability accommodations.” Plaintiff Orlando Pouncey, 40, spent 11 years—a third of his life—in solitary, where he was let out of his cell for just 30 minutes every five days. He says isolation worsened his vision under constant overhead lighting, prevented him from using an audio player needed to complete rehabilitative programming, and denied him access to mental health treatment. Pouncey, diagnosed with depression and PTSD, began hallucinating and talking to himself in isolation: “I’ve seen people go crazy. I’ve seen people take their lives.” The lawsuit follows Oregon’s $2.3 million settlement with the family of a 22-year old man who died by suicide in 2023 while in solitary at Oregon State Correctional Institution. As of July 1, 2026, roughly 363 adults remained in disciplinary segregation under solitary conditions. Statesman Journal | As Oregon temperatures climb above 100 degrees, several state prisons lack central air conditioning, relying instead on fans and swamp coolers. Advocates say the Department of Corrections isn’t doing enough for the more than 480 people in solitary confinement, who face heightened risks without cooling. Unlike those in general population, people in solitary can’t relocate to cooler areas and lack ways to cool down, access to clean hydration, and personal fans. Oregon Capital Chronicle

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At Northlake Processing Center, the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in the Midwest, Iraqi immigrant Sanan Atou, 43, was held in a freezing solitary confinement cell for three weeks after taking food from the kitchen for detainees without commissary money. “I felt like I was going to freeze to death. I didn’t know if I was going to wake up,” stated Atou. As immigration detention has expanded under the Trump administration, so has ICE’s use of solitary confinement. MLive reports that over 14,000 immigrants have been held in solidarity since January 2025. Physicians for Human Rights found ICE’s use of solitary in the administration’s first four months was double the rate from 2018-2023 and six times higher than under the Biden administration. Since ICE detention is civil, not criminal and 70% of detained immigrants had no criminal record as of April 2026, researchers argue its use as  punishment violates federal guidelines. Mlive.com

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The Washington State Supreme Court heard arguments in June on whether Amber Kim, a transgender woman, should be transferred back to a women’s prison. After 15 years in men’s facilities, Kim was moved to the Washington Corrections Center for Women in 2021. In 2024, she received a disciplinary ticket and was placed in segregation for three months before being transferred to Monroe Correctional Complex’s intensive management unit, where she is isolated for 23 hours a day. Kim has spent over two years in solitary confinement and the ACLU of Washington argues her transfer and prolonged isolation violates the state constitution’s ban on cruel punishment. Truthout

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New Jersey Republican lawmakers dismissed witness testimony of mistreatment at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center run by the private company GEO Group, titling the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight’s hearing “False Narratives Surrounding Conditions at the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center.” The ACLU of New Jersey’s Amol Sinha testified that hundreds of detainees who staged hunger and labor strikes over medical neglect, starvation, overcrowding, and abuse were met with pepper spray, solitary confinement, and punitive transfers. One detainee, John Wilson Brutus, died after just one day at the facility. No ICE, Department of Homeland Security, or GEO Group representatives testified, and the three witnesses called by Republicans had no firsthand knowledge of conditions at Delaney Hall. Vindicator

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Advocates and Department of Corrections (DOC) officials clashed over solitary confinement at a Madison protest against Wisconsin’s prison conditions. Talib Akbar displayed a replica solitary cell based on his own experience, and Crystal Keller described how her incarcerated daughter is limited to one 15-minute call every nine to ten days while in solitary. Advocates who solitary survivors describe it as traumatizing and say people are placed in isolation for minor infractions. A DOC-commissioned report found out-of-cell time “very limited,” recommending at least two hours daily and noting that solitary increases the likelihood of self-harm and suicide. Wisconsin Examiner

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The Maryland Supreme Court upheld a law that lets judges fine the state’s health department when it delays psychiatric care for pretrial defendants ruled incompetent or dangerous. As of June 2026, 236 people were incarcerated pretrial awaiting placement at one of Maryland’s five psychiatric hospitals. While they wait, defendants are held in solitary confinement without access to proper care. “They get worse and worse,” said Luciene Parsley of Disability Rights Maryland. The health department is legally required to find placements within 10 business days, but says overcrowding and funding constraints make compliance “impossible.” The Daily Record

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Izzy Aly, released in June after six months at Pennsylvania’s Moshannon Valley Processing Center, described how ICE uses solitary confinement to quarantine sick detainees rather than provide care. Diagnosed with chronic kidney disease during detention, Aly said respiratory illnesses, like COVID-19, spread rapidly through crowded pods, and was told by nursing staff the facility’s “quarantine” was the Special Housing Unit–solitary confinement. ICE’s own records show the facility ranks among the highest nationwide for solitary use. In Aly’s words, “anybody that fears COVID infections gets threatened with solitary,” which discourages detainees from reporting symptoms, allowing infections to spread unchecked. Truthout

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