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 […]
Dear Friends, Supporters, and Readers: In recent months, a lot of well-deserved recognition has gone to whistleblowers—those courageous individuals who, often at great risk to themselves, take steps to expose corruption and abuse that would otherwise remain hidden from public view. In an era rife with secrets and lies, whistleblowers are rightly being celebrated for […]
In April 2018, advocates in Massachusetts celebrated the signing of the Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA), which mandated changes throughout the state’s criminal justice system. Included among the reforms were some new restrictions on the use of solitary confinement, set to go into effect at the beginning of 2019. But advocates say that instead of […]
Update, Nov 18: Gov. John Bel Edwards was reelected to a second term on Saturday, November 16, narrowly defeating Republican challenger Eddie Rispone in the Louisiana gubernatorial election. The following is an excerpt from Louisiana on Lockdown, a report jointly published in June 2019 by Solitary Watch, the ACLU of Louisiana, and the Jesuit Social Research […]
In July 2015, when President Barack Obama mentioned concerns about the use of solitary confinement, he broke more than 220 years of presidential silence on the issue. And a few months later, in November 2015, when Solitary Watch took a look at the various 2016 candidates’ positions on prison reform, most had never mentioned solitary […]
Books and other reading materials are of special value to people held in solitary confinement. They provide an opening to the world beyond their four gray walls, a connection to the thoughts, words, ideas, feelings, experiences, and insights of other human beings that, for a time, can relieve the endless isolation and boredom of solitary. In […]
• In Truthout, Victoria Law reports on how solitary survivors are helping lead the fight to end solitary confinement in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and throughout the country. In New Jersey, their efforts led to the recent passing of the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, which limits solitary to 20 consecutive days and bans it entirely […]
• Reports this week on the suicide of high-profile detainee Jeffrey Epstein at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan have been full of questions and speculation about how such a thing could have been allowed to happen. Epstein had reportedly been on suicide watch, but was taken off and was in a cell […]
Press Release from the Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Public Library Announces Exhibition of “Photo Requests from Solitary” Shedding Light on the Interior Lives of Men and Women Held in Solitary Confinement Across the U.S. Special Events Feature Solitary Author Albert Woodfox, New Yorker Writer Jelani Cobb, and “The Wire” Actor Michael K. Williams On View April […]
Through the generosity of the Vital Projects Fund, Solitary Watch is accepting proposals for small grants to journalists working in all media, with the goal of expanding public awareness and understanding of solitary confinement in U.S. federal and state prisons, local and tribal jails, immigration detention centers, and juvenile justice facilities. Grants amounts will range from $1,000 […]
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—and only once—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 […]