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Number Held in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons and Jails Tops 122,000
Loaded on Nov. 15, 2023
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2023, page 43
Filed under:
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
United States of America.
A new report released in May 2023 by Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box, groups dedicated to abolishing the use of solitary confinement, found that a lot more Americans are locked up in solitary confinement than previous estimates indicated: 122,840 people, caged in isolation for 22 or more hours …
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More from this issue:
- Prison Walls No Barrier to America’s Deadly Opioid Crisis, by Douglas Ankney
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- North Carolina Prisoner Recovers $500 for Injuries in Shower Slip and Fall
- DOJ Reaches Consent Decree with New Jersey Jail to Improve Mental Health Care, by David Reutter
- Suit Against Delaware DOC Advances With 39 Prisoner Plaintiffs and 40 Defendants, by David Reutter
- Defining ‘Carceral Deference’, by David Reutter
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $700 From Sheriff Who Failed to Comply with Public Records Request, by Douglas Ankney
- U.S. Probation System a “Quagmire” That Sets Defendants Up to Fail
- $12,000 Paid to California Prisoner Denied Back Surgery Despite Doctor’s Recommendation
- The Gun of Incarceration, by Cristian Farias
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Arkansas Guard Accused of Provoking One Prisoner to Attack Another, by Douglas Ankney
- Arizona Governor Creates Independent Prison Oversight Commission, by Douglas Ankney
- When Prison Workers Are Exploited for Cheap Sheets
- Almost $2.4 Million in Settlements For Seven Suicides at New Jersey Jail, by David Reutter
- California Bail Bondsman Accused of Faking Captures to Bilk Courts
- Report: “Mass Supervision” Driving Mass Incarceration
- High Profile Escapes from Two Pennsylvania Jails Blamed on Staffing and Infrastructure Problems
- HRDC Wins Motion to Compel North Carolina Prison Officials to Answer for Censorship Policy
- New York Succeeds in Firing Fewer Than 10% of Guards Accused of Prisoner Abuse
- Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim
- St. Louis City Jails Director Under Fire, County Jail Director Leaves After Nearly $2.7 Million in Legal Payouts, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Condemned Arizona Prisoner Reprieved, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Fourth Circuit: Dismissal of South Carolina Prisoner’s Complaint Cannot Prematurely Be Called a “Strike” Under PLRA, by Douglas Ankney
- After Spate of Deaths, Vermont Contracts Prisoner Healthcare to Wellpath – Again
- Ohio Prisoner’s Suit Claims Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Released in Train Derailment
- Minnesota Makes All Calls Free in Prisons and Jails
- Connecticut Lawmakers Punt on Limiting Prison Strip Searches, by David Reutter
- DNA Matches Dead Australian to Nebraska Prisoner Who Escaped 56 Years Ago
- Two-Week Texas Prison Lockdown Ends With Puny Contraband Haul
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- Tennessee Private Prison Gets State’s First LGBTQ+ Group
- Ninth Circuit Revives Former Nevada Prisoner’s Claim for Deprivation of Sentence Credit
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- Nine Memphis Jailers Indicted in Death of Psychotic Detainee
- Alabama Prison Conditions Continue to Worsen as DOJ Trial Looms
- Washington Kills the Death Penalty – Again
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- No Hearing Required for Emergency Dose of Antipsychotic Medication for Mississippi Prisoner, by David Reutter
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- Imprisoned Putin Critic Claims He’s Subjected to “Re-Education”
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- 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.
- 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.

