Solitary Confinement Archives

Solitary Confinement

Karl ChuJoy originally wrote this piece for Solitary Watch nearly ten years ago, when he was enduring three years in solitary confinement in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) of Elmira Correctional Facility, in upstate New York, for possessing a laptop computer. We are republishing it now, as we begin a campaign to support our Lifelines […]

Voices from Solitary

Solitary Confinement

Voices from Solitary: Finding Solace in the SHU

Incarcerated BLM Activist Transferred After Organizing Against Solitary…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

Letters on Lockdown

Our Prisons, Ourselves: How Norway Treats Its Most Reviled Citizen

REPORTERS: Now Accepting Grant Applications for Our Newly Expanded Solitary Reporting Project

The Deadly Abuses Within ICE Facilities Are Amplifications of Our Own Prison System

UPDATED: Fact Sheet on Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention in 2026

Trapped in “El Pozo”: As Overcrowding and Abuse in ICE Detention Increases Under Trump, So Does Solitary Confinement

Judge Condemns “Unprompted” Solitary for Suspect in Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

First They Came for the Prison Journalists…

Seven Incarcerated Journalists Awarded Grants to Report on Solitary Confinement

Light in the Dark: For Incarcerated Writers, Every Day Should Be World Storytelling Day

Incarcerated Immigrant Chooses U.S. Prison Over Deportation to a “Virtual Death Sentence”…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

The Weight of Watching: How Prisons Turn Traumatized Women Into Unpaid Crisis Workers

The Other ICE Killings: Since Trump Took Office, More Than 20 People Have Died in ICE Custody

Texas Places Woman in Solitary for Prison Cat Fundraiser…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

5 Stories We Were Able to Tell in 2025 Thanks to You

LGBTQ+ People in Solitary Confinement: New Fact Sheet Outlines Disproportionate, Malicious Use on an Already At-Risk Population

BREAKING: We Have a Triple Match!!

Youth Face Prolonged Isolation in Connecticut’s Adult Prisons…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

5 Reasons to Show Your Support for Solitary Watch Before the Year Ends

Report Exposes Torture at Florida Immigration Detention Facilities…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

You Can Be a Lifeline to People in Solitary Confinement

Horrific Abuse in New York’s Prisons Predates Law Limiting Solitary…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

Mine Was a Voice in the Void. Solitary Watch Listened.

Prison Overcrowding and “Understaffing” Spur Rise in Use of Solitary…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

The “Soul-Crushing Loneliness” of Solitary Confinement

NY Prisons Seek to Weaken Law Limiting Solitary…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week

NewsMatch 2025: Meet This Moment with a Doubled Donation!