New this week from Solitary Watch: 

For World Mental Health Day, Solitary Watch Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines explores the unique struggles experienced by incarcerated people in need of mental health care. Haines tells the story of a man who spent ten days in solitary during his mental health evaluation, depicting the disconnect between the needs of and staff response to people in crisis. “People in these situations need stability and focused, individualized attention—not dislocation and isolation,” writes Haines. Solitary Watch 

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

U.S. Representative Summer Lee of Pennsylvania led a group of Members of Congress in calling on the Federal Bureau of Prisons to address prison conditions during the government shutdown. Their letter requested that the bureau’s director address issues caused by previous shutdowns, including extensive lockdowns, interruptions to medical, mental health, and programming services, and staffing shortages. Congresswoman Summer Lee | Full Letter | Even before the shutdown, there has been an increase in lockdowns at federal prisons and other worsening of conditions under the second Trump administration. Solitary Watch | A recent report from the Government Accountability Office showed that the BOP received 15,000 allegations of misconduct last fiscal year. U.S. Government Accountability Office | Additionally stress from the shutdown has exacerbated the declining conditions and staff misconduct, resulting in a rare instance of a man being shot while in custody at a federal prison in Florida. NBC News | Prior to the government shutdown, the BOP was already facing a shortage of 9,500 prison guards and 3,000 medical professionals. As the shutdown passes the month mark, staff who were furloughed and those who are required to work without pay may seek employment elsewhere, causing a domino effect of denied care and increased restrictions due to a lack of support staff. Government Executive | This follows on the heels of the Trump administration’s recent decision to end the contract with the union representing federal correctional officers. New York Times | For more information, the Prison Policy Initiative has created a new resource tracking “how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse,” including conditions in prisons and jails. Prison Policy Initiative 

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As the highest security prisons in the country, “supermax” facilities subject incarcerated people to  constant, and often indefinite, solitary confinement. At ADX Florence in Colorado, the federal government’s only supermax prison, people in general population are only allowed a maximum of two hours per day outside of their cells. The other, more restrictive units at the prison are all solitary confinement under pseudonyms, providing people with little to no programming in their cells and complete isolation during the brief and infrequent recreation time. Grunge

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Alex Kuhnhausen died of a bacterial infection that was left untreated and spread from his kidney to his lungs and brain while he was in solitary confinement at Washington State Penitentiary. Despite her 16 attempts to contact the Department of Corrections for information, the only communication Kuhnhausen’s wife received was a request for medical records as he was being airlifted to the hospital in critical condition. Kuhnhausen had been placed in solitary for trying to inject his opioid treatment medication, and his last days depict the deadly consequences of responding to addiction with isolation. Investigate West 

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The sister of Lamont Mealy, who died of dehydration at Maryland jail in 2022, is suing the state for neglect and withholding records detailing the circumstances of his death. According to the lawsuit, Mealy was taken to solitary confinement while shackled and in a suicide prevetion vest. Evidence obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show officers shutting off the water in Mealy’s cell shortly after his placement in solitary, denying him meals, and taunting him from outside the cell as his “condition rapidly deteriorated.” Reason

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When Tommy Meadows filed a lawsuit claiming that staff at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility pepper sprayed him while he was handcuffed in a strip cell before placing him in solitary confinement for two years, the state offered $5,000 to settle. Instead, Meadows took the case to federal court where he won $404,000. “We were told that this was one of the most significant civil-rights jury cases in the Southern District of Ohio in many years,” said Meadows’s counsel. Cincinnati.com

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A federal judge approved a $6.75 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 150 incarcerated people in Massachusetts. According to the lawsuit, prison officers and tactical teams committed “brutal and calculated collective revenge” in an effort to control incarcerated people at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. WBUR | Additionally, there have been other instances of incarcerated people facing mistreatment at SBCC. In 2023, several men in the “Secure Adjustment Unit” at the prison went on hunger strike to protest the use of solitary confinement in violation of state law. WBUR

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Otter Tail County, Minnesota, has agreed to pay Ramsey Kettle $200,000 and implement several policy changes as part of a recent settlement agreement. According to Kettle’s original suit, he was placed in solitary confinement and denied food and water as punishment for not cleaning his feces-covered cell. KFGO | In exchange for Kettle dismissing his lawsuit, Otter Tail County agreed to ending the practice of “rolling over” remaining time in a solitary confinement sentence from when a person is released to the next time they are  booked into the jail; requiring that all staff report when food and water is withheld as punishment; and mandating welfare checks on people in solitary. ACLU of Minnesota 

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Several immigrants rights organizations have filed a lawsuit to block the expansion of the California City Immigration Processing Center (CCIPC), which is already the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in the country. The lawsuit claims that CoreCivic, the private company contracted to operate the facility, illegally opened CCIPC in August without the proper permits or business license. Recent reports from inside the facility describe dangerous and unsanitary conditions, lack of medical care, and staff’s use of solitary confinement for punishment and crowd control. Fresno Bee

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Under Governor Phil Murphy, New Jersey implemented legislation restricting the use of solitary confinement in the state. As the 2026 gubernatorial race came to a close, both candidates on the ballot stated their belief in increasing restrictions on incarcerated people. A spokesperson for Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, stated that Ciattarelli “believes the spike in assaults on officers in jail is a direct result of new limits on solitary.” NJ Spotlight News

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Last week, the Journey to Justice bus tour brought their immersive exhibits on solitary confinement to Baltimore. The tour, which is sponsored by Unlock the Box, is campaigning for increased oversight and an end to solitary confinement. “There are situations where someone could be threatened to themselves (or) to others. They shouldn’t be locked away for months or years, and so like, that’s a big issue, especially here in Maryland,” said Chris Wilson, a Baltimore-based artist, activist, and solitary survivor. WBALTV

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The media attention garnered by former U.S. Representative George Santos for his treatment while in solitary confinement has inspired Joe Exotic, also known as “The Tiger King,” to share his own experience. In a recent letter to Santos, Exotic asked for him to be his “voice to have the second chance you have received” and stated that the “one thing I dream of is for you and I testify before Congress about how we treat human beings in solitary confinement in this country.” South Shore Press

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