New this week from Solitary Watch:

The Alabama Solution, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, has been nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary. The film, which highlights the “horrifying realities of life inside Alabama’s prisons,” was made possible by incarcerated activists who documented the terrible conditions from inside prison using contraband cellphones. In mid-January, the men whose work was so crucial to the film were taken from their facilities and transferred to an extremely isolated solitary confinement unit. Solitary Watch Senior Writer Katie Rose Quandt broke this story in an article co-published by The Appeal and Truthout. She spoke with attorney David Gepass, who stated that “given the history of institutional violence in the Department of Corrections, including beatings by guards…they’re afraid for their lives.” Solitary Watch

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Editor-in-Chief Juan Moreno Haines published a powerful review of incarcerated journalist Christopher Blackwell and law professor Deborah Zalesne’s recent book, Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement. As described by Haines, the book “addresses common myths and misconceptions about the physical and psychological effects that solitary confinement has on people…it reads like a horror show transcript.” Solitary Watch

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

The death of Luis Campos, a Cuban migrant who was in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas, has officially been ruled a homicide. A report from the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office stated that abrasions on Campos’s chest and knees indicated signs of a struggle, and did not mention suicide, directly contradicting statements by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A witness to the incident reported that Campos “became unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement.” Associated Press | The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially said that Lunas was placed in solitary confinement for disruptive behavior, where “staff observed him in distress.” However, following the autopsy report, DHS changed their account to claim that Campos had attempted suicide and “violently resisted” guards trying to help him. Campos’s death is the fourth in ICE custody this year, following 32 migrant deaths in 2025—“ICE’s deadliest year in two decades.” The Guardian

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“They tried to kill me…they tried to kill me,” Steven Stafford recounted, thinking back to the night he and six other practicing Muslims were pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, and marched barefoot to the solitary confinement unit at Eastern Reception Diagnostic Correctional Center (ERDCC) in Missouri. According to officials, their offense was “praying in a common room instead of the prison chapel.” The prison chapel at ERDCC has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Although all disciplinary charges were dropped against the seven men, and officials stated that the officers involved would be held accountable, no employee disciplinary records have been found related to the incident. As a result, Stafford, along with several other men, were removed from the prison’s honor dorm, and filed a lawsuit over the incident. The Appeal

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Women incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, New York, are finding themselves “locked inside of their single cells for a majority of the day” in conditions very similar to solitary confinement. A spokesperson for the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said that the increased restrictions were due to “frequent fights and safety concerns”; however, many activists argue that the conditions violate New York’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act. While the HALT Act states incarcerated people are entitled to at least seven hours outside of their cell, many women at Bedford Hills aren’t even permitted time to shower. The Intercept

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A federal judge in Virginia ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) can bring their class action lawsuit against Red Onion State Prison to trial. The suit alleges that staff at the prison have held hundreds of people in long-term solitary confinement under the guise of a “risk reduction and risk control” step-down program. While the program claims to help people transition from solitary confinement to general population using therapeutic support and programming, the ACLU argues that staff at the prison do not document rationale for putting people in solitary confinement. “People in the Step-Down Program at Red Onion State Prison don’t have a viable way to challenge whether their solitary confinement is necessary—so they end up trapped in isolation for months or even years,” a source commented. ABC News

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The mother of Grayson Painter, 22, was awarded $2.3 million in a settlement with the Oregon Department of Corrections. Painter died by suicide the same day he was placed in solitary confinement, after being both ignored and taunted by staff. A behavioral health evaluator explicitly stated that Painter would “benefit from a higher level of care and monitoring at another institution,” noting that he had not been taking his prescribed medications for diagnosed mental disorders. Despite this warning, Painter was placed in solitary confinement with no call button to alert staff. KGW Local News

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Sonya Reed was finally released from solitary confinement following a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) investigation into a viral fundraiser for a sick stray cat named Orange Julius. Reed and other women at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit had been using their commissary funds to care for stray cats in the area. When Orange Julius, who was an emotional support animal for many at the unit, became sick, Reed’s daughter created a GoFundMe to cover veterinary care for the cat. Reed was placed under investigation for solicitation although she had neither organized nor benefitted financially from the fundraiser. The Dallas Express

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As a further form of punishment, incarcerated people at Butler County Jail in Ohio are served an unpalatable “warden burger” if they are placed in disciplinary isolation. This directly contradicts policy that states all incarcerated people should be served the same meal outside of health or safety conditions. Democratic lawmakers sent a letter requesting an investigation into the jail. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones called the letter “the dumbest thing [he’s] ever seen in [his] life,” defending the use of the burger for people who are disciplined. Food Bibble

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Mario Guevara, who had previously interviewed ICE and been allowed access to migrant detention facilities, was the first journalist deported by the Trump administration. Despite having a work permit from the Department of Homeland Security and living in the United States for 20 years, Guevara was detained while covering a protest. Officials kept Guevara in jail for 112 days, 70 of which were in solitary confinement. Atlanta Magazine

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