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

Sonya Reed was placed in solitary confinement after her daughter raised $11,000 on GoFundMe for a sick stray cat who lived on Reed’s unit and provided emotional support. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice claims that she was placed in solitary confinement due to an ongoing solicitation investigation and not as a punishment. Reed’s daughter finds the charge “bizarre” given that her mother did not create the GoFundMe nor can she access any of the funds. She remains highly concerned about her mother’s health, noting Reed suffers from “heart problems, anxiety, depression, and spinal conditions that require prescribed bedding.” It remains unclear how long Reed will be held in solitary confinement while under investigation. The Barbed Wire

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New York State Senator Julia Salazar released a report detailing the inhumane conditions inside New York’s prisons. In addition to the beating deaths of two incarcerated people, the report describes a wider epidemic of violence, racism, and torture. “I’ve personally experienced this,” affirmed HALT Solitary Campaign Co-director Jerome Wright. “People are being lynched, beaten, sexually assaulted, waterboarded, suffocated with plastic bags, thrown in solitary confinement as cover-up, and killed.” The report calls for an emergency overhaul of the system and measures to protect incarcerated people beyond those outlined in the recent Prison Reform Omnibus Bill. Adirondack Explorer

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The Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative conducted a six-year-long study on how incarcerated people and staff perceive prison conditions. Using data from three waves of surveys administered in 2021, 2022, and 2024 to five state prisons, researchers found large discrepancies in the perceived use of solitary confinement. When asked whether “staff in this prison are more likely to use segregation over other disciplinary options,” incarcerated individuals were nearly twice as likely as staff to agree. Despite reduced restrictions after the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of incarcerated people who disagreed that their facility had adequate alternatives to solitary increased between 2021 and 2024. Urban Institute

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One of the harshest and most comprehensive bans on sending books and magazines to incarcerated people will be implemented in all Arkansas prisons on February 1, 2026. The Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) cited an influx of contraband and illegal drugs as the reason for restricting materials to those administered by prisons. Funding disparities result in some prisons having a limited selection of books and magazines, impacting people’s access to the outside world. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Although all people housed in general population have access to tablets for ebooks and news, those in solitary confinement do not. The ACLU of Arkansas views this as an “unnecessary and dramatic restriction on prisoners and their rights.” Arkansas Advocate

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A lawsuit alleges that the Sangamon County Jail in Illinois allowed 27-year-old Tiffany Rusher to suffer in solitary confinement for four months, against the warnings of medical professionals, leading to her death by suicide. Due to her reported history of mental illnesses and suicide attempts, Rusher was “deprived of all property, stripped naked and barred from having any undergarments or clothing except for an anti-suicide blanket.” Despite the rising need for mental health treatment, county jails in Illinois report limited mental health resources, nursing and medical professional shortages, and high wait times for state-operated mental health facilities. Arizona Daily Star

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Judge Anthony Battaglia denied a class action lawsuit’s request to limit the use of solitary confinement at the San Diego County jail to 72 hours. The lawsuit was filed after two men who suffered from mental illness were found dead in their solitary confinement cell. Sworn declarations from the case claim that people incarcerated at the jail have no access to mental health resources and are subject to unsanitary cell conditions, including piling trash and overflowing toilets. The judge’s opinion cites a lack of evidence of “a causal link between the recent deaths (or any prior deaths) and the defendants alleged police or practice failures.” The San Diego Union-Tribune

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Medical examiners are likely to classify the death of Lunas Campos, a detainee at a Texas detention camp, as a homicide. Prior to his death, Campos was kept in solitary confinement due to “disruptive” behavior. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims that Campos died trying to resist security staff while attempting to take his life. However, another detainee claims that Campos was choked to death as he was trying to resist being placed in his segregation unit. During the struggle with guards, Campos was heard repeatedly saying “No puedo respirar,” meaning “I can’t breathe.” Washington Post

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As the only woman on death row in Mississippi, Lisa Jo Chamberlin receives vastly different treatment from her male counterparts. While the men on death row are able to access a common area and recreational space, Chamberlain lives in complete isolation. Though advocates fought to improve her conditions—access to a tablet and ability to walk laps—these were removed towards the end of last year. Now, she only leaves her cell to access a shower and the community microwave every 48 hours. Other death-sentenced women across the U.S. experience similar conditions, with women on death row in Louisiana and Tennessee having lived in solitary for decades. Mississippi Today

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The ACLU of Illinois is suing the Mary Davis Home for illegally placing children in solitary confinement and denying them mental health treatment. According to the lawsuit, 60-70 percent of youth at the facility have a mental health diagnosis and some are kept in near-constant isolation for weeks at a time. Solitary confinement is known to cause lasting psychological damage, causing children to develop PTSD and trust issues and making treatment more difficult. A judge denied earlier mental health plans developed for the Mary Davis Home and ruled that a new plan must be submitted to the ACLU by the end of January. 6KWQC

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Creative Acts, a nonprofit that supports social justice issues through art, has supplied four California prisons with virtual reality headsets to prepare people in solitary confinement for release and expose them to the world. Program participants are able to practice interviewing for jobs, purchasing groceries, attending family gatherings, and navigating social settings., as well as visiting far-flung places. According to Creative Arts, the program has led to a “96 percent decline in disciplinary infractions from participants in solitary confinement.” Corcoran State Prison was able to close one of the buildings used for solitary confinement due to this reduction. Independent Voter News | An earlier report on the program pointed out that some advocates “argue that tech is just a bandage solution that only serves to maintain an inhumane carceral system.” Creative Arts director Sabra Williams “has grappled with these critiques” and believes that “the benefits for the people inside….outweigh the issues.” The Guardian

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