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Looking Deep Inside America’s Legalized Torture Chambers
Loaded on Sept. 30, 2022
by Mark Wilson
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2022, page 1
Filed under:
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
United States of America.
by Mark Wilson
There are many ways to destroy a person, but one of the simplest and most devastating is through prolonged solitary confinement. Deprived of meaningful human interaction, otherwise healthy prisoners become unhinged. … Not only psychological or social identity but the most basic sense of identity …
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More from this issue:
- Looking Deep Inside America’s Legalized Torture Chambers, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Federal Prisoners Finally Receiving Benefits 42 Months After First Step Act Became Law, by Casey Bastian
- SCOTUS Sides With Condemned Georgia Prisoner Who Wants To Be Executed by Firing Squad, by David Reutter
- New York Prisoner’s Suit Over Thirteen-Year Solitary Stint Survives, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisoners Continue to Die at Alarming Rate, More Than One Every Week in 2022, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Death and Inhumane Living Conditions Persist in Nation’s Worst Jail, by Kevin Bliss
- Third Circuit Holds Consent of All Parties to Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction Required Before Judgment Against Pennsylvania Prisoners, by Mark Wilson
- SCOTUS Lets “State Secrets” Privilege Bar CIA Contractor Testimony About Torture Already Publicly Known, by Mark Wilson
- New Florida Law Shrouds Executions in Secrecy, by Kevin Bliss
- SCOTUS Kills Condemned Ohio Prisoner’s Effort to Secure Evidence of Mental Impairment to Bolster Habeas Petition, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- ACLU Pries Loose Employment Record of New Hampshire Trooper Who Detained Woman on Falsified Evidence, Leading to $237,500 Settlement, by Matthew Clarke
- Prison Profiteer Is Using Sandra Bland’s Death to Sell Surveillance Technology, by Brian Dolinar
- $3.75 Million Settlement for Estate of Washington Prisoner Who Died From Untreated Breast Cancer, by David Reutter
- Idaho Provides Nation’s Second Gender Confirmation Surgery for Transgender Prisoner, by Mark Wilson
- After $90,000 Settlement for Sexual Abuse of Oregon Juvenile Detainee, Second Suit Filed Against Now-Imprisoned Former Youth Counselor, by Chuck Sharman
- $2.45 Million Paid by Wellpath and Macomb County, Michigan, After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death in Jail, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Dark, Smoky Cells: As Wildfires Threaten More Prisons, the Incarcerated Ask Who Will Save Their Lives, by Alleen Brown
- Nebraska Crime Commission Says Dodge County Jail Noncompliant With Reporting Requirements, by Harold Hempstead
- SCOTUS Kneecaps Condemned Prisoners Claiming Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- New York Closes Moriah ‘Shock Camp’, by Kevin Bliss
- After Summary Judgment Denied, California Jail Officials Pay $55,000 for Breaking Detainee’s Arm, by Mark Wilson
- Two Attorneys, Three Employees Sentenced in Bribery Scandal at MTC Texas Prisons, by Keith Sanders
- Third Illinois Guard Found Guilty In Fatal Beating of Handcuffed State Prisoner, but Attorney General Refuses To Settle With Family, by Matthew Clarke
- Class Certification Maintained in New York Prisoners’ Suit for Damages Due to Illegally Imposed Post-Release Supervision, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Guts State’s Fair Employment Act Protection for Returning Prisoners With Domestic Violence Convictions, by Jacob Barrett
- California Appeals Court Lets CDCR Define Term Adopted From Legislation, by Kevin Bliss
- Sixth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Ohio Prison Doctor After Prisoner Blinded by Stroke, by David Reutter
- New Jersey Supreme Court Forces County to Cough up Settlement Documents With Prisoner Raped By Jail Guard Who Snitched on Fellow Guards, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Terminates Idaho Prison Conditions Lawsuit After 40 Years of Litigation, by David Reutter
- $1,050,000 Settlement Reached in Disabled Illinois Prisoner’s ADA Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Idaho Joins Missouri in Banning Incarceration for Inability To Pay Court Fines, Fees, by Jayson Hawkins
- Ninth Circuit Sends PLN’s Arizona Censorship Lawsuit Back to District Court, by David Reutter
- Census Bureau Report Finds Risk of Death Nearly Triples for Prisoners After Release, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio County Pays $4 Million To Settle Claim Over Death of Jail Detainee, by Matthew Clarke
- $7 Million Paid to California Detainee Left Quadriplegic Due to Jail Guards’ Alleged Negligence, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Vacates California’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate for Prison Employees, by Mark Wilson
- $2.5 Million in Confiscated COVID-19 Relief Funds Returned to Arkansas Prisoners After Court Issues Injunction, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Mark Wilson:
- Indiana Prisoner Sues Prison Abolition Group, Wins $1,097 Default Judgment, April 26, 2024
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guard Accused of Grabbing and Squeezing Detainee’s Penis, Feb. 1, 2024
- Former Oregon Prison Nurse Gets 30 Years for Raping Prisoners, Dec. 1, 2023
- After Ninth Circuit Refuses to Compel Arbitration, National Class Certified in HRDC’s Challenge to Jail and Prison Debit Card Fees, Oct. 15, 2023
- Seventh Circuit Revives Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Over Knee Surgery Delayed 29 Months, Oct. 15, 2023
- Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit, Finding Grievance Procedure Availability an Open Question, Oct. 15, 2023
- Congress Forces BOP to Upgrade Security Cameras, Sept. 15, 2023
- Oregon Will Hold Release Hearings for 73 Prisoners Sentenced to LWOP as Juveniles, Sept. 15, 2023
- Senators Slam “Egregious” Prisoner Sexual Abuse by BOP Employees, Sept. 15, 2023
- Minnesota Supreme Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Delayed Transfer of Sex Offenders, Sept. 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Security Systems, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Court Shuts Down Arizona Attempt to Fill Medical Staff Vacancies with Under-Qualified Providers, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Injunctions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Ombuds Report Doesn’t Rule Out Racism or Retaliation at Red Onion State Prison, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Treat, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Class Certification Granted to Suit Challenging Suspension of HALT Act in New York Prisons, April 1, 2026. Injunctions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.

