New this week from Solitary Watch:

Tomorrow, October 24, at 1 pm ET, Solitary Watch will host “Investigating Solitary Confinement,” the second in a series of roundtables by journalists and for journalists. The one-hour roundtable will include a moderated discussion with three exceptional panelists, an open discussion among attendees about the challenges faced and strategies developed working in this field, and an opportunity to ask questions about submitting proposals for the next round of Solitary Confinement Reporting Grants. All journalists are welcome to attend. Registration is required; and a Zoom link will be provided only to those who register.

---

In related news, Solitary Watch awarded seven grants through its new Solitary Confinement Reporting Grants program, providing resources for journalists working freelance or in small nonprofit newsrooms to report on crucial stories about solitary. These grants are administered alongside the Ridgeway Reporting Project, which supports the work of incarcerated journalists. This Solitary Confinement Reporting Grants cycle aims to uplift and investigate the experiences of those in solitary confinement in prisons and immigration detention centers across the country. Solitary Watch

---

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

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) was sued by a coalition of organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The plaintiffs claim that the DCF is violating a state law that requires defendants deemed incompetent be moved out of county jails to state psychiatric hospitals within 15 days of a court order. DCF data shows that the average delay before such a transfer was 124 days—more than eight times the legal limit. Furthermore, jail staff often placed incarcerated individuals experiencing a mental health crisis during this limbo period into “cells roughly the size of a king-size bed for at least 23 hours a day with little human contact or environmental stimulation.” Florida Trib  | The SPLC further claims in the suit that two people died in separate instances after being forced to wait for a transfer, and people are often kept in solitary confinement for months at a time. Southern Poverty Law Center

---

A new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general affirmed that individuals detained at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center, which has since been shut down, were sometimes kept in cages the approximate size of telephone booths. The report confirms findings of an earlier Amnesty International investigation, which reported that detainees were often shackled and then attached to restraints on the floor of the cage and held for up to two hours to “reflect on their behavior choices, manage their emotions, reduce stress and practice self-directed behavior.” Amnesty International’s original report had also found “inhuman and unsanitary conditions” such as fecal matter in sleeping areas, 24-hour-a-day lights, and insects. NBC News

---

Theodore Johnson, a man incarcerated in Eastern Correctional Facility in Upstate New York, says he was placed in solitary confinement for speaking up after Marcos Alcaraz died in a fire. Johnson and others claim officers did not respond quickly enough to Alcaraz’s shouts for help and failed to properly unlock his cell. After Johnson spoke out, he was placed in solitary, denied medical treatment resulting in his hospitalization, and had personal legal work pertaining to his defense confiscated. Times Union

---

Incarcerated people with disabilities in New York are routinely denied access to requested accommodations, according to an investigation by Prism. Such accommodations are vital to both recreational, medical, and daily needs for disabled incarcerated people. Without necessary aides, disabled people are in de facto isolation—unable to participate in programming, order hygiene products, or meet their medical needs. An ongoing suit against New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision also alleges that disabled people are often placed in solitary confinement, violating state law. Prism

---

Faith leaders and advocates in New Jersey are calling for Martín Alonso Soto Hernandez’s release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. Soto has spent months in solitary confinement after he was secretly transferred to another facility for organizing a hunger strike at Delaney Hall in New Jersey. After eventually finding where he was held, Soto’s wife, Gabriela Soto, and local faith leaders gathered outside Elizabeth Detention Center to call for his release and immediate mental health support. Jersey Vindicator

---

Transgender women in ICE detention are frequently put into solitary confinement units, known as “trans pods,” and are routinely denied access to gender-affirming care by the Trump administration. The Marshall Project  | Similarly, Grace Pinson, a transgender woman incarcerated in federal prison, shares her experience in solitary confinement after she was attacked, and describes the increasing danger caused by Trump administration requirements that trans women be held in male prisons and denied gender-affirming care. Prison Journalism Project

---

Action Alerts:

On Thursday, October 1, the Social Documentary Network will host an exhibition and panel discussion entitled “Window into Solitary,” showcasing the “portraits and testimony of 17 people who have experienced long-term solitary confinement” at CUNY School of Law in New York City. The panel will include incarcerated journalist and author Christopher Blackwell, photographer and filmmaker Lori Waselchuk, organizer Anisah Sabur, CUNY School of Law Professor Deborah Zalesne, and Unlock the Box director Jessica Sandoval. The exhibition, which will run through October 30, includes both photography and the written testimony of survivors of solitary confinement. Social Documentary Network

---

Get this weekly roundup in your mail every Wednesday, covering the past seven days of solitary confinement news and commentary. Subscribe today.

The work we do is made possible by your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation—large or small—today