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

After surviving Tennessee’s execution attempt and spending ten days in intensive care, Christa Pike was transferred to the infirmary at the Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the state’s main women’s prison. Pike is being kept in solitary confinement, which she says adds to the mental and physical pain caused by her failed execution. The Guardian | Unlike men on Tennessee’s death row, Pike spent 28 years in solitary confinement awaiting her sentence until a 2024 court order granted her privileges to “work, eat meals, exercise, and have social contact with other women in custody.” Pike’s attorneys have petitioned a federal judge to reinstate the order following her return to custody and for Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. WKRN

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A new class action lawsuit alleges immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana are subjected to “indiscriminate” use of solitary confinement, excessive force, racial slurs, and inadequate medical care. One plaintiff said he had spent nine weeks in solitary confinement with no stated justification. Others described spending weeks or months in solitary after “minor disagreements” with facility staff, saying it was used so much that detainees were sometimes placed together in small isolation cells. IndyStar

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Former sailor Angelo McDuffie has spent 13 months in solitary confinement and been denied face-to-face meetings with lawyers while awaiting court-martial at the Navy Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Virginia. Although a military judge ruled in September that his pre-trial detention conditions were illegal, McDuffie remains in solitary. A complaint by a group of attorneys representing other detainees who experienced similar conditions has resulted in an investigation by the Navy’s inspector general. Virginian-Pilot

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The family and lawyers of Andreea Marin are calling for an investigation into the medical care Eloy Detention Center in Arizona after she was placed on life support due to a suicide attempt. It is unclear whether Marin, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was being provided her medication while detained. Investigations into other suicide attempts at Eloy reveal a pattern of solitary confinement used against individuals who demand health care and express feelings of depression, anxiety, or desire to harm themselves. Arizona Daily Star

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Eight New York advocacy organizations, including the #HALTsolitary Campaign, are preparing a legislative blueprint to reduce the state’s prison population. This is the first time these organizations have collaborated on a comprehensive legislative package. Although the 2022 Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary law limited solitary confinement in New York, it has not been fully enforced. The new blueprint aims to address many root causes of overcrowding and violence that proponents say makes solitary necessary. Amsterdam News

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David Perez, a former disciplinary officer at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, a now shuttered women’s prison in California, pled guilty to sexually abusing women he found guilty of misconduct, as well as lying to federal investigators. He is the eleventh staff member, including the facility’s former warden and former chaplain, to plead guilty in a Department of Justice investigation into the prison. As a disciplinary officer, Perez held power to send women he deemed “guilty” of misconduct to solitary confinement or extend their sentences. San Francisco Chronicle

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A group of incarcerated people won $52 million in a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Corrections for ignoring symptoms of tuberculosis, which resulted in 270 people contracting the disease. One person died by suicide while sick in solitary confinement, and many others suffered lengthy isolation, broken ribs, and double-digit weight loss. The tuberculosis outbreak was the largest in the state in 20 years. The Seattle Times

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Five incarcerated people are suing the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) over conditions and mistreatment in solitary confinement, including lack of medical care and disability accommodations. The lawsuit argues that ODOC’s use of solitary violates the state constitutional protections against “unnecessary rigor,” a higher standard than the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. While prior scrutiny led to ODOC limiting solitary to 90 days, the lawsuit claims the department circumvents the policy by transferring people between isolation units. The Progressive

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A new episode of the award-winning podcast Ear Hustle, produced behind bars at San Quentin, features Jack Morris, who spent 35 years in solitary. Prior to his release, Morris was held at California’s notorious Pelican Bay State Prison, where he participated in the historic 2013 prison hunger strike against solitary confinement, which eventually involved more than 30,000 incarcerated people held in dozens of prisons across the state. Ear Hustle

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Summaries of news and commentary on solitary confinement are written by Solitary Watch’s research and reporting interns and edited by our staff. Solitary Watch uses people—not A.I.—to create the work we do.

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