New this week from Solitary Watch:

In this month’s installment of The Word from Solitary Watch, Lifelines to Solitary Project Manager Marlies Talay describes the significance of letter writing for people held in solitary. Talay explains how solitary confinement strips away incarcerated people’s sense of and control over time—and with it their sense of self. Correspondence through Lifelines provides a tether to the outside world for those in solitary, helping to find grounding in time, space, and themselves. Solitary Watch

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In a piece initially published nearly ten years ago, Karl ChuJoy writes that “mail is manna from heaven” while being held in solitary in the Special Housing Unit of a prison in upstate New York. ChuJoy strikingly describes how letters, books, and magazines are the “lifeblood of a sane mind in the SHU,” momentarily transporting him away from his 10′ x 6′-sized cell where he is surrounded by the “deafening sounds of others yelling at each other to be heard.” Solitary Watch

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We’re Less Than $6,500 Away From Making the Full Match! Don’t Stop Now!

In this, our second week of the Lifelines to Solitary 2026 Match—where every donation is doubled—we still need your help!

As our newest favorite pen pal and supporter recently wrote, “This vital program runs on so very little & creates life-changing connections.”

It’s true: Lifelines does so much with so little. The connections made with each pairing of pen pals have the power to provide something each and every one of us needs: Community. Understanding. Compassion. A moment during your day to think outside yourself. To be kind, because you can; to be empathetic, because others have done the same for you.

Every letter—every stamp—has the power to change two lives, and Britta, along with hundreds of other volunteer pen pals on the outside, knows it.

This match is not just about clearing the waiting list—though that’s undoubtedly the first priority.

It’s about delivering on the promise of Lifelines. With our infrastructure, our small—but-mighty staff, ready to do so much more, and your support during this match, Lifelines to Solitary can become the force for relief, change, and grace it was always meant to be.

Please pitch in. Every dollar you donate is automatically doubled, meaning whatever you’re able to give—big or small—will have twice the impact it would at any other time of year.

Join the match. Change a life or two. Give today.

 

 

Five years ago, New York lawmakers passed the HALT Act to reduce the state’s use of solitary. The law has failed to be fully implemented by the New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, as Solitary Watch Senior Contributing Writer Katie Rose Quandt reports, due to backlash from correctional unions and Republican politicians. Correctional officials in the state—and across the country—have undermined reforms while espousing that solitary is necessary to reduce violence.Studies have repeatedly refuted this claim, and Quandt writes that “solitary may even make communities less safe.” The American Prospect

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

Camila Toro de Paula, a transgender woman and asylum seeker from Venezuela, has faced assault, inadequate medical care, and solitary confinement during her eleven months in a men’s detention center. She is not alone—a report from the Center for American Progress found that, in fiscal year 2017 trans immigrants were held in detention for twice as long as their cisgender counterparts and one in eight trans detainees were placed in solitary. The second Trump administration has further rolled back protections and medical treatment for transgender immigration detainees, exposing a vulnerable population to abuse, harassment, and health risks. Many transgender women have reported being moved to male facilities or into solitary. Toro de Paula has been held in solitary for up to 24 hours a day and without regular access to water. “I’m afraid of dying here,” she told reporters in Spanish. The New York Times

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ICE has continued to detain at least 120 immigrants in Arizona despite judges ruling that their deportation would put them at risk of persecution or torture. Prior to the second Trump administration, migrants granted humanitarian relief to protect from violence in their home countries would be released in the U.S. with a work permit. Instead, the administration has kept such migrants in custody while attempting to find other countries to deport them to—a process that can take months or years and that lawyers have argued violates detainees’ Fifth Amendment right to due process. Celestin Dima, who fled his home country of Burkina Faso due persecution for his sexuality, was held at Eloy Detention Center for nearly two years while the Trump administration sought to remove him to another country. Dima was placed in solitary for two weeks after becoming depressed and anxious, fearing that he would be deported to a country with harsh anti-LGBTQ laws or that would then, in turn, send him back to Burkina Faso. Dima was finally released from ICE custody in late June. Detainees at Eloy have stated that correctional officers use solitary to pressure other migrants into self-deporting. Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting 

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Gaby Vidana Pereyra, an undocumented transgender woman, has cycled through solitary confinement across multiple facilities after being attacked in a Texas men’s prison earlier this year. Local advocate Stacey Monroe told reporters that she is worried for Pereyra’s wellbeing, especially after Pereyra notified her family she was being deprived of food and restrained with handcuffs while in solitary. Dr. Terry Kupers, a psychiatrist and expert on solitary, said that “solitary is a false solution” to the issue of transgender people being attacked and mistreated within prisons. Dallas Observer

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The mother of Sean Hanchett, a 32 year old who died in a Washington state jail, received a $2.5 million settlement from a federal civil rights and negligence lawsuit. Hanchett was booked into the Snohomish County Jail in 2022 after being diagnosed with opioid use disorder. The lawsuit alleged that jail staff were aware of his diagnosis yet placed Hanchett in solitary, failed to provide him with his medication, and did not monitor his health. The next day, Hanchett was found hours after he died of complications from his history of drug use. According to the lawyer representing Hanchett’s estate, the jail agreed to make significant reforms to its policies as part of the settlement. HeraldNet

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The Sisters of Charity, a New York order of elderly Catholic nuns located 40 minutes from Delaney Hall Detention Facility, have dedicated themselves to advocacy for immigration rights as one of their final causes. The order announced its plan to close in 2023, but the 123 remaining nuns, with an average age of 86, have staged protests and raised funds to help U.S.-born children with detained parents obtain the documentation and passports necessary to remain in the country. The nuns join the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace, another order, in their fight against inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall. One nun, belonging to the latter order, told reporters that a migrant was placed in solitary for five months because his crutches were classified as a weapon. Northeast Times

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In federal prisons and in the state of Michigan, incarcerated people placed on suicide watch are held in solitary confinement. Reflecting on his eleven years serving as a volunteer Prisoner Observation Aide in Michigan, Jerry Metcalf describes how he’s been “forced to witness the way these men are mentally, emotionally, and physically abused while being housed in solitary confinement.” People on suicide watch are berated by guards, prohibited from showering, blocked from contacting family members on the outside, and issued gowns, known as “Bam-Bam” suits, which many told Metcalf felt degrading. “Locking a suicidal prisoner away in solitary confinement as a cheap, quick fix stops him from killing himself and shields the FBOP and the MDOC from liability,” Metcalf explains, but “the long-term emotional and mental damage being done to these men far outweighs the extra effort and cost needed for a more humane way of treatment.” Prison Writers 

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Jonathan M.B. walks readers through a day in his life while spending nearly a year in solitary in Washington state. “It’s hard to find joy in prison,” he writes. “It takes a strong will, a small dash of cunning and a lot of ‘little things’”—things like a “nest” of blankets, an episode of “The Vampire Diaries,” and a pen and a journal. Prison Journalism Project

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 Action Alerts: 

Leon Benson, an artist who was exonerated in Indianapolis in 2023, will be visiting from Detroit to lead the third annual Common Unity, a series of fundraiser events to support advocacy across both cities. “Common Unity 3: The Voice of the People” will be hosted at the Indianapolis Liberation Center from August 27th to 30th. The schedule includes panel discussions with Indiana solitary confinement survivors, showcases featuring the work of justice-impacted artists, and a concert. Tickets are required to attend, and donations are also accepted. Common Unity 3

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