When Solitary Watch was founded in 2009, there was nothing else like it out there. Solitary confinement was the best-kept secret of the U.S. criminal justice system—a shadow world that was inhabited by upwards of 100,000 people, yet managed to remain out of sight of the American public, and resolutely off-limits to the press. Over more than a decade, we’ve played a pivotal role in increasing public awareness, mainstream media attention, and evidence-based policymaking in response to what was once an invisible issue.

But there’s still nothing else out there like Solitary Watch, and no one else is doing what we’re doing. We not only publish the voices of incarcerated writers, but also have two currently incarcerated journalists on our staff. We remain committed to unearthing vital stories that no one else has touched, and the unparalleled depth we bring to our work has made us a resource for other journalists and for educators, scholars, lawyers, corrections officials, policy experts, advocates, and survivors of solitary around the world.

We’ve chosen five stories published in 2025 that exemplify what makes Solitary Watch unique, vital, and indispensable—but we hope you’ll explore our website to find hundreds more. We also hope you will join the small legion of Solitary Watch readers who make this work possible by supporting it with a donation. Please consider making a donation in any amount before the year ends, while your gift will be tripled thanks to NewsMatch.

We have been—and will remain—at the forefront of covering solitary confinement and the damage it continues to wreak on our nation, communities, and families. Thank you for the support that makes this possible.

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1. How Trump’s Policies Are Making the Lives of Incarcerated People Even Worse

Midway through the first year of Trump’s second term, Solitary Watch Senior Writer/Editor Katie Rose Quandt published the first article to comprehensively document the impact of the administration’s “transparently cruel policies” on one of the nation’s already most abused and marginalized populations. “Since his first day in office, the Trump administration has thrown the lives of incarcerated people into chaos—especially the more than 150,000 people under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.” The article was co-published as a lead story on Slate, an example of how Solitary Watch extends its reach and impact by placing our stories in major publications. Another example is Katie Rose’s devastating article “How Solitary Confinement Kills,” co-published with The Progressive, which revealed the incontrovertible link between solitary confinement and the epidemic of prison suicides.

2. Mama’s in the Hole: How Solitary Confinement Tries to Break Family Bonds

For a heartbreaking mother-daughter essay co-published with Ms. Magazine, the award-winning incarcerated writer Kwaneta Harris joined with her 16-year-old daughter, Summer Knight, to reveal how nearly a decade of forced silence through solitary confinement shattered their bond—and how they’re fighting to rebuild it, piece by piece. You’ve seen Kwaneta’s name appear on Solitary Watch many times this year, and will be seeing it even more often in the future: We are proud to announce that Kwaneta Harris, who received one of our Ridgeway Reporting Project grants and served as a Contributing Writer to Solitary Watch, has now joined the staff as Senior Writer/Editor. She’ll be contributing regularly from her Texas prison cell, as well as helping to shape our support and publication of incarcerated writers, She’ll be collaborating with Solitary Watch Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines, who works from inside San Quentin as the only currently incarcerated person in a leadership position at a U.S. newsroom.

3. When Freedom Still Feels Like Prison

In a groundbreaking two-part article co-published with MindSite News, Solitary Watch contributor Sania Tildon surveyed and interviewed survivors of solitary confinement, as well as mental health experts and advocates. Her piece reveals that the effects of solitary confinement linger long after people have been released from prison, yet there are very few treatment options that address or even acknowledge the impact of this unique form of psychological torture. “When you first get out you’re happy to be free, you enjoy inhaling air that’s not in a concrete bunker,” said one man who had spent 18 years in isolation. “But soon, all the difficult feelings hit you, the ones you’d been stuffing down while in [solitary].” Like all of our reporting, the article combines facts and data with the human stories behind the numbers, highlighting the experiences of those who have endured solitary confinement firsthand.

4. After Biden’s Clemency, Trump Has Condemned Us to a Life Worse Than Death

In our essential Voices from Solitary series, Rejon Taylor writes about what it’s like to be spared the death penalty—only to face a life in extreme solitary confinement: “Ever since Biden granted 37 of us [on federal death row] clemency, we’ve been in the crosshairs of petty politics. We are men marked for retribution, targeted for extra-judicial punishment. Unlike any other time, the power of the presidency is impacting the conditions of our confinement. On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order that directs the Attorney General to imprison the 37 in conditions of monstrosity. And now we are designated for placement at the most restrictive and isolating federal prison in this country: United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado—the Alcatraz of the Rockies.” To date, we have published nearly 250 pieces in Voices from Solitary.

5. After Decades in Solitary, a Sliver of Light

To end solitary confinement in the United States, we need to do more than document the extreme harm it causes to the minds, bodies, and souls of the people who endure it. We also need to show that there are humane alternatives that keep prisons safe without the torture of solitary. That’s why Solitary Watch sent our reporter Edward Tie to a remote prison in eastern Oregon to witness the work of Amend, which is working with correctional staff to get the toughest cases out of long-term isolation. This nuanced and ultimately inspiring story, focusing on an incarcerated man once known as “the monster of Oregon,” documents what it takes to bring someone back into the human community after decades of solitary confinement, and to demonstrate that no one deserves or needs to be tortured by the state. Many more stories like this one will be featured in our forthcoming series of reports on Alternatives to Solitary Confinement, to be published in 2026.

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