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

The cache of materials related to Jeffrey Epstein, released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30, includes video of the jail cell in which Epstein died on August 10, 2019. The video shows a fairly typical solitary confinement cell, located in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), a high-rise federal jail in lower Manhattan. Sky News | In 2023, the Department of Justice published the findings of an investigation into Epstein’s conditions of confinement and supervision. The report included detailed analysis of Special Housing Unit (SHU) policies at MCC and the failures to adhere to such policies prior to Epstein’s death. U.S. Department of Justice | But as Jeanne Theoharis pointed out in 2019, “The real scandal is that the horrors of MCC have existed for decades, hidden in plain sight,” and garner attention only when a “celebrity” prisoner is held there. Theoharis continued: “The journalist Aviva Stahl published a searing exposé last year in Gothamist on conditions at MCC that documented the filth, rodents, overflowing sewage, deeply substandard medical care, wrenching isolation, and often indifferent—and at times, cruel—staff…The abusive and corrupt conditions at MCC are well documented. But a broad swath of public officials, from the attorney general on down, have chosen to countenance these conditions—and major news organizations haven’t pressed the issue.” The Atlantic | Only after Epstein’s death was MCC finally shuttered in 2021, and its closure did not solve the underlying problems of neglect and abuse. As Solitary Watch documented, virtually all people being held pending federal trial in New York are now incarcerated in “barbaric” conditions at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), which likewise receive attention only when a famous person like Luigi Mangione or Nicolas Maduro lands there. Solitary Watch and The Appeal  

Transgender immigrants are experiencing “new levels of cruelty” in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Trans detainees have reported being assaulted, interrogated, and humiliated by staff, placed in solitary confinement, and denied essential medical care, including hormone therapy and treatment for potentially life-threatening infections. Arely Westley, an undocumented trans woman whose advocacy work won her a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, reported being placed in extended solitary confinement to perform post-operative care for the vaginoplasty she received before her arrest. Such abuse is not only more frequent under the second Trump administration term, but more hidden from the public. To comply with the President’s executive orders, ICE removed all mention of trans people from their detention standards. “I feel like a lot of the words that Trump has used to refer to people like us has pretty much encouraged officers to treat us in any type of way and have no respect for people like us,” said one trans man detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Huffpost 

In their most recent attempt to combat carceral drug use, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) implemented a system of collective punishment, 15-day lockdowns, for any individual violations. These lockdowns are the first time TDCJ has suspended all activities except medical appointments, including all methods of communication with family members. Many have expressed concerns that isolation from family and friends could lead to a stark rise in mental health concerns. One person worried that “his marriage will be destroyed” as a result of the new policy, and another noted that officials “shouldn’t be surprised when this results in more suicides.” Prison Journalism Project 

Alvaro Hernandez has spent 23 years in solitary confinement in a South Texas prison. Also known as Xinachtli (pronounced Shin-atch-tlee), the 73-year-old Chicano activist dedicated his life to fighting civil injustices in Texas. Now, Xinachtli can no longer walk, is experiencing short-term memory problems, and has lost almost 100 pounds following a series of falls. His medical records also indicate a history of additional medical problems, including a previous stroke and heart attack, as well as damage to the heart, kidney, and prostate, a hernia, and a possibly cancerous lesion in his liver. Various medical staff reported Xinachtli as a “no show” to medical appointments. Xinachtli states that staff have failed to provide him with necessary support, including access to a wheelchair, to make the mile-long trip to the clinic. Despite all of these diagnoses and lack of access to medical care at his facility, officials still made the decision to return him to solitary confinement following a recent hospital stay. Politics

“I’m a human rights violator,” stated an anonymous staff member at a New York youth prison complex. Youth incarcerated at Industry Residential Center are supposed to participate in rehabilitative services, including school, vocational programs, and socialization with peers. Instead, due to extreme staffing shortages, they are locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day for days or weeks at a time. Young people are at a heightened risk for psychosis, depression, and self harm as a result of prolonged solitary confinement. Amidst the staffing shortages, documented incidents of self-harm in New York secure facilities “rose 667 percent between 2019 and the end of 2022.” New York Focus | Shelby County, Tennessee, also faces backlash for the use of solitary confinement inside its youth detention center. Despite a statewide law limiting the use of solitary confinement for children to no more than six hours in a day, local ordinances have circumvented this law and allowed solitary for 72 consecutive hours for at least two years. MLK 50

Tajuddin Ashaheed, a Muslim man who was forced to shave his beard while incarcerated, will be awarded $245,000 by the state of Colorado for violating his First Amendment rights. The settlement comes nearly a decade after prison officer Derrick Porcher allegedly told Ashaheed that he must have a “full beard” to qualify for religious exemption and threatened to “throw him in the hole” if he did not shave. Another lawsuit filed in 2017 claimed that Porcher also prohibited a Jewish man from requesting Kosher meals. Ashaheed’s settlement with the state, like most others, will be paid using taxpayer dollars. “Not one penny is going to be taken from [Porcher], which is really unfortunate. He should suffer some consequences as a result of this,” said Ashaheed’s attorney. Colorado Public Radio

Renny Mobley, 42, died from a drug overdose after being repeatedly denied medications to manage his previously diagnosed schizoaffective disorder. Mobley’s mother is filing a wrongful death lawsuit, highlighting medical staff’s failure to administer medication when her son presented with symptoms of a schizoaffective relapse. Instead, Mobley was placed in solitary confinement, often for days on end. Mobley began using illicit substances after his symptoms resurfaced, and died after officers refused to take his claims of feeling unwell seriously. WBTV

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