New this week from Solitary Watch:

Cinquan Umar Muhammad and Wallace “Shubaka” Kirby won second and third place, respectively, in the inaugural Voices Beyond the Walls writing contest presented by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s National Network of Solitary Survivors in collaboration with Solitary Watch. Muhammad, a justice-impacted writer and advocate from Washington D.C., describes in harrowing detail how solitary “tried to erase” him—and how he survived with a new  resolve to end the practice designed to destroy one’s humanity. Solitary Watch | In a play script, Kirby, a D.C. reentry trauma facilitator specialist, depicts the tenacious attempt of a brother and sister to maintain their connection in the face of the crushing isolation of solitary. Solitary Watch

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

New Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention statistics reveal the Trump administration violated international human rights law on the use of solitary. Seriously ill and/or suicidal detainees were held in solitary for an average of 63 consecutive days from January to March this year—over four times longer than the U.N.’s 15-day threshold, after which solitary is considered torture. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has previously stated that solitary confinement “should be an exceptional measure” and such conditions “raise serious concerns” that some of the deaths in ICE custody were preventable. Over 835 people were held in isolation every month this fiscal year, and this year has already seen the most deaths in custody since DHS was founded. Daily Beast

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A document from ICE’s health service agency revealed that the Trump administration has force-fed at least one hunger striker in immigration detention during his second term—a practice many international experts have classified as torture. Forced feeding has several medical risks, including the possibility of puncturing vital organs and leading to serious infections. The Trump administration first received backlash for engaging in force-feedings in 2019, when they were administered at an ICE detention center in Texas. The document confirms the practice is being used again as hundreds have begun hunger strikes to protest against conditions in ICE custody across the country—even as the administration has denied the fact that hunger strikes are taking place. Many of these strikers have been punished with solitary confinement. The Guardian

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Godfrie Cole, a 25-year-old who struggled with mental illness since childhood, died in solitary confinement in the MDC Brooklyn federal jail in July. Authorities suspect he died from a drug overdose in the segregated housing unit. His lawyers stated that “Mr. Cole’s senseless death shows that MDC still cannot be trusted to protect the health and lives of its [incarcerated] population, even in its most secure areas.” Cole’s death follows that of Carlos Alberto Guerrero Mercado, who was found hanging in his MDC cell three months earlier. New York Daily News | Solitary Watch Senior Writer Katie Rose Quandt and Reporting Intern Maeve Brennan reported on the “barbaric conditions” at MDC over a year ago. Solitary Watch

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Tyquine Lee developed schizophrenia and lost the ability to speak after being held in solitary at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison for over 600 days. His mother’s struggle to get him released—including a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections (VADOC) that was settled for $150,000—inspired laws to reform the state’s use of solitary, requiring weekly health evaluations, opportunities for out-of-cell time, and annual reporting to the state legislature on new “restorative housing” programs. The VADOC is also set to face a class action lawsuit in October filed on behalf of over 1,000 incarcerated men who were subjected to long-term restrictive housing. The Virginian-Pilot

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An Indiana residential program for struggling youth, run by the Assemblies of God religious group, was accused of holding young women in solitary-like conditions for up to two months. Student advocates and survivors of Refuge Girls Academy rallied last Wednesday to call for the program’s closure and increased state and federal regulation of the “troubled teen industry.” A federal civil lawsuit filed this year alleges that the program, which advertises professional mental and academic support, lacks credentialed staff and has exploited and abused minors. Women who attended Refuge Girls Academy, including those placed there by court order, described being forced to perform unpaid labor for local businesses and being locked alone in a “safe room” with nothing but a Bible and a writing assignment as punishment. WIBC 93.1 FM

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In 2020, Patrick Butcher, 31, died by suicide in solitary at an Ohio jail after repeatedly requesting mental health assistance. His mother’s successful wrongful death lawsuit resulted in over $1 million in settlements from Summit County and the company that provides mental healthcare at the jail. Although Butcher was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and took prescribed medication for anxiety and bipolar disorder, the lawsuit states he struggled to access his medication or be seen by psychiatrists during his three months at Summit County Jail. Despite warning officers that he feared he might commit suicide if held in isolation, Butcher was placed in solitary for five days after being assaulted by his cellmate. cleveland.com

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Officials in Shelby County, Tennessee unanimously passed an ordinance to limit the use of solitary confinement in youth detention centers. State law prohibits secluding detained youth, except as a “temporary response to behavior that threatens immediate harm.” The law also explicitly bans placing young people in isolation for more than six hours a day. The Shelby County ordinance seeks to reinforce those regulations locally. News Channel 3 

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