This is one of the first posts we ever published on Solitary Watch, more than ten years ago, and we now share it with our readers every year. Once a year, we also ask you to consider supporting the work we do: shining a light on the darkest corners of our criminal justice system and bringing a glimmer of […]
Dear Readers, Supporters, and Friends: The torture of solitary confinement is something that takes place not only behind closed doors, but behind layer upon layer of steel and concrete. It happens deep inside places that have been called “prisons within prisons,” which in the name of “security” are kept strictly off limits to all observers, including […]
Dear Readers, Supporters, and Friends: In the past nine months, those of us on the outside have been given just a glimpse of the isolation, idleness, and deprivation faced by the thousands of incarcerated men, women, and children held in solitary confinement. Unlike them, most of us have been confined along with loved ones, and […]
Dear Friends: Torture is not health care. Torture is not protection. Torture is not the way to survive a pandemic. Solitary confinement has been globally recognized as torture. Yet in response to COVID-19, 300,000 incarcerated individuals—a five-fold increase from the pre-pandemic population—have been forced to endure solitary confinement, and suffer the deep and lasting damage […]
This is one of the first posts we ever published on Solitary Watch, and we now share it with our readers every year. Once a year, we also ask you to consider supporting the work we do: shining a light on the darkest corners of our criminal justice system and bringing a glimmer of hope and human companionship to […]
Dear Readers, Supporters, and Friends: For tens of thousands of people locked away in U.S. prisons and jails, the extreme deprivation and isolation of solitary confinement causes unimaginable suffering. One person living in solitary described his existence to us as “a soul-destroying loneliness that never ends.” In this context, even the smallest human connection can […]
In our overly busy, hyper-connected world, the idea of “alone time” holds a powerful appeal. Solitude and silence are seen as things that create space for relaxation and self-awareness—things to be sought out and savored. But in the ten years since we started Solitary Watch, we’ve learned about another kind of “alone” that, when you […]
Dear Readers, Supporters, and Friends: Today, #GivingTuesday, has become an important day for all nonprofit organizations, especially small, lean ones like Solitary Watch. It’s the day when we count on the people who read and value our work all year long—and who care about the issue of solitary confinement—to give back, at whatever level they can, […]
Dear Readers, Supporters, Colleagues, and Friends: Every year, Solitary Watch seeks to grow beyond its past achievements. Driven by the vision of tens of thousands of people still locked in solitary confinement in American prisons and jails, we try to work harder, dig deeper, and reach farther with clear, honest, and often game-changing reporting that shines […]
Dear Readers: We reach out to you just once a year to ask for your support. And even now, we seek your help not for our regular research and reporting work, which catalyzes change by documenting the hidden world of prison isolation. Instead, we ask you to donate to a special program that brings small ray of […]