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New Report Estimates U.S. Prisons Hold Nearly 50,000 People in Solitary Confinement
Loaded on Feb. 1, 2023
by Jennifer Taylor
published in Prison Legal News
February, 2023, page 42
Filed under:
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
United States of America.
by Jennifer Taylor, Director, Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School
Time-In-Cell: A 2021 Snapshot of Restrictive Housing, a new study co-authored by the Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, estimates that …
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More from this issue:
- Convictions at Any Cost: DOJ Report Slams Three Decades of Snitches and Due Process Violations in California’s Orange County, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- New BOP Director Clears Up First Step Act Implementation, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Incarcerated People Have Few Ways to Fight Back Against Censorship in Prisons, by Tamar Sarai
- Burning Tires Left Louisiana Prisoners With Migraines, Breathing Problems, and Minimal Medical Care As black smoke poured out of a burning tire dump in Louisiana, people inside the prison next door struggled to keep the fumes out., by Alleen Brown
- Ninth Circuit Says Statements Relayed at Criminal Trial By Nurse and Doctor Are Admissible, Not Hearsay, by David Reutter
- $959,000 Paid by Pennsylvania County in Deaths of Two Detainees, Plus at Least $750,000 from PrimeCare, by Ashleigh Dye
- Fourth Circuit Reinstates Virginia Prisoner’s Spoliation Motion for Lost Video of His Alleged Assault by Guards, by David Reutter
- Federal Judge in Pennsylvania Rules BOP Must Honor Transgender Prisoner’s Legal Name Change, by Casey Bastian
- Tenth Circuit Says Prison Work Assignment Covered Under ADA Protections, by Kevin Bliss
- Seventh Circuit: Indiana Prisoner Who Failed to Formalize Grievance Also Failed to Exhaust Remedies, by David Reutter
- Investigation Reveals “Black Market in Broad Daylight” for Prison Food, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Record Deaths at Rikers Island Blamed on Guards’ Absenteeism, Abuse and Corruption, by Anthony Accurso, David Reutter
- $20,000 Paid by Centurion and MHM Health Professionals to Arizona Prisoner for Alleged Deliberate Indifference and Medical Negligence, by Jacob Barrett
- Third Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity From Delaware Guards Who Held Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary for Seven Months, by David Reutter
- Too Many Alabama Prisoners Still Dying with Too-Few Guards, Many Corrupt, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Former Tennessee Police Chief Sentenced to Six Years for Abusing Arrestees, by Kevin Bliss
- Florida Jailers Leave Detainees Out of Evacuation Plans During Hurricane, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Revives Failure-to-Protect Claim of Arizona Prisoner Beaten by Gang, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Says California Felons Can Fight Fires While Imprisoned, But Not After, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Arizona DOC Accused of Cheating Both Guards and Prisoners Out of Hourly Wages, by Keith Sanders
- Fourth Circuit Says Prisoners with Gender Dysphoria not Excluded from ADA Protection, by Harold Hempstead
- Former Texas Prisoner Wins 12-Year Fight for Justice, by Kevin Bliss
- Arizona Resumes Executions, by Eike Blohm, MD, Chuck Sharman
- Student Loan Debt and Prisoners, by Edward Lyon
- After Federal Judge Censors Lawyer’s Tweets About CoreCivic, Company Settles Suit Over Tennessee Prisoner’s Murder by Cellmate, by Harold Hempstead
- New Report Estimates U.S. Prisons Hold Nearly 50,000 People in Solitary Confinement, by Jennifer Taylor
- Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Derivative Sovereign Immunity for Jail Physician, by Matthew Clarke
- Fourth Circuit Says Three-Strikes Federal Prisoner’s Imminent Danger Claim Must Be Evaluated on ‘Totality of Circumstances’, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Nevada Federal Court Says Prisoner’s § 1983 Suit Should’ve Been a Habeas Petition, But Returns Filing Fee, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Mississippi Sheriffs in Suit Over Mentally Ill Man’s Years-long Unlawful Detention, by Matthew Clarke
- Georgia Jails Faulted in Struggle With High COVID-19 Infection Rates, by Kevin Bliss
- PLN Contributor’s Retaliation Suit Against Oregon Prison Officials Survives, by Jacob Barrett
- Seventh Circuit Trims What Indiana Prisoner Owes Jail Doctor in Lost Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Prisoner Health Update: Hepatitis C, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Under New Mississippi Law, State Chooses Execution Method, by David Reutter
- Florida Makes Parolees Criminally Liable for Accidental Voter Registration Fraud, by David Reutter
- Award Slashed for Delaware Prisoner Sexually Groped by Guard, by Kevin Bliss
- Oklahoma Jail Guard Gets 46 Months for Setting Up White Supremacist Attack on Black Detainees, by David Reutter
- Federal Judge Refuses to Shorten Corruption Sentence for Former Head of New York City Jail Guards’ Union, by Matthew Clarke
- DOJ Releases Special Report on U.S. Prison COVID-19 Response, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Former Judges in Pennsylvania ‘Kids for Cash’ Scandal Must Pay $206 Million in Damages, by Ashleigh Dye
- $60,000 Paid by Pennsylvania County to Jail Detainee Savagely Beaten by Cellmate While Guards Allegedly Ignored Cries for Help, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- $300,000 Paid by Colorado to Prisoner Sexually Harassed by Guard with Foot Fetish, by Harold Hempstead
- $98,000 Paid by BOP to Immigrant Detainees Racially Profiled as Terrorists in New York City Lockup, by Kevin Bliss
- $480,000 Paid by California County to Detainee Whose Newborn Died After Guards Stopped at Starbucks en Route to Hospital, by Ashleigh Dye
- Former BOP Warden Convicted of Sexually Abusing Prisoners in California ‘Rape Club’ Scandal, by Kevin Bliss
- Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Mississippi Cops Who Let Injured Hemophiliac Bleed Out in Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- News in Brief
More from Jennifer Taylor:
More from these topics:
- 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.
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fifth Amendment, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prison Classification.
- New York City Mayor Appoints Ex-Rikers Prisoner as Corrections Commissioner, March 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Staffing, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- After Exposing Prison Horrors, Incarcerated Whistleblowers Are Moved to Solitary, Feb. 1, 2026. Whistleblowing, Retaliatory Segregation, Work Strikes, Totality of Conditions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $404,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Brutalized by Trio of Guards, Kept in Solitary for Two Years, Jan. 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliatory Segregation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- U.S. District Court in Arizona Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Prisoner Denial of Forms for Challenging 455 Days of Solitary, Jan. 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Chemical Spraying of Mentally Ill Inmates, Deliberate Indifference.
- First Circuit Greenlights Rhode Island Prisoner’s Damages Suit for Disastrous 450-Day Solitary Confinement, Dec. 1, 2025. Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Deliberate Indifference.
- Suicidal West Virginia Prisoner Granted Transfer From 13-Year Solitary Confinement, Dec. 1, 2025. Contempt (Civil Procedure), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Deliberate Indifference.
- Suit by Mentally Disabled Detainees at South Carolina Jail Secures Class Certification; No Action on Damning DOJ Report, Dec. 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), DOJ CRIPA Actions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).

