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BOP is Holding 12,000 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
Loaded on Aug. 15, 2024
by David Reutter
published in Prison Legal News
August, 2024, page 28
Filed under:
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement,
Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
Location:
United States of America.
by David Reutter
A report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on February 6, 2024, found that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was holding about 8% of its population—nearly 12,000 prisoners—in Special Housing Units (SHUs), the agency’s polite term for solitary confinement. In SHU, prisoners …
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More from this issue:
- After Spike in Jail Deaths, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Under California Department of Justice Investigation, by Matthew Clarke
- California Prisoner’s Generosity for Gaza Rewarded With Over $100,000
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $7.5 Million Settlement in Suit Over California Jail Death, by Matthew Clarke
- Arizona DOC Agrees to Pay $2,650,000 in Legal Fees and Costs in Long-Running PLN Censorship Suit
- Unintended Consequence of Texas Prisoner Tablets: Retaliation from Fellow Prisoners
- Pilot Jail Diversion Program Opens for Mentally Ill Arrestees in Austin
- Virginia Takes Back One Prison from GEO Group, Closes Four More
- Oregon Transgender Prisoner Claims Abusive Violation of Injunction, but Court Declines Sanctions, by Matthew Clarke
- “Too brutal, too disgusting”: Prison Guards Flee as Working Conditions Worsen
- Contractor Fined $300,000 for Illegal Asbestos Dumping at Wisconsin Federal Prison
- Kentucky Parole Officer Gets Three Years for Sexually Assaulting Probationers, by Matthew Clarke
- 46 New York Prisoners Accuse Guards of Beatings—Even Waterboarding, by Douglas Ankney
- Tennessee DOC Rewards CoreCivic with Pay Increase Despite Critical Watchdog Audit
- Dead Rikers Island Detainees Had Missed Dozens of Mental Health Appointments
- New York Revises 2,772 Prisoner Disciplinary Records After Inspector General Finds Defects in Another Contraband Drug Test, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Parole Board Member Resigns After Violator Turns Deadly
- Inspectors Catch L.A. Jailers Watching Porn
- Eighth Circuit: Perfect Adherence to Burdened Beliefs Not Required to Demonstrate Sincerity under RLUIPA, by Douglas Ankney
- Warden and Deputy Out at Kentucky Prison As DOC Investigates Guard Misconduct
- Florida Jail Chief’s Firing Upheld, Retaliation Lawsuit Headed to Trial
- Eleventh Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Georgia Jailers Who Housed White Detainee With Black Cellmate Held for Racially Motivated Attack
- Riot at California GEO Group Lockup Sends Message to U.S. Marshals
- Cheap Food Enriching Profiteers, Making Prisoners Sick
- Prisoner Admissions Soar at Massachusetts Psychiatric Lockup Plagued by Overcrowding and Violence
- Federal Judge Calls BOP Brooklyn Lockup Too Deplorable to House Defendant
- $275,000 Settlement for Wisconsin Jail Detainee’s Death from Untreated Heart Infection
- BOP is Holding 12,000 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement, by David Reutter
- 1,200 Washington Prisoners Lose Laptops After One Shows Up on eBay
- Fifth Savannah Jail Employee Arrested for Smuggling in Just Over a Year
- Massachusetts Prison Closure Reflects Success of Criminal Justice Reforms
- Report Finds Exploitative Disciplinary Fines in One-Third of U.S. Prison Systems
- Tennessee Sheriff Indicted for Massive Prisoner Work-Release Fraud
- Fourth Circuit Revives Claim Over North Carolina Jail Suicide, by Douglas Ankney
- Arrested for Stealing Snacks, Baltimore Diabetic Dies in Jail
- Georgia Guard Fired, Charged With Setting Up Assault that Left Prisoner Dead
- Arizona Agrees to $40,000 Settlement in Suit Over Mentally Ill Prisoner’s Suicide, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Prisoner Succumbs to Heat Wave
- Fourth Circuit Chides Virginia Magistrate for Assuming Prisoners Proceed IFP, by Douglas Ankney
- New Mexico Jail Sued Again After Paying $787,500 In-Custody Death Settlement
- First Circuit Tolls Claim for Maine Jail Death from Date of Detainee’s Injury, Rather Than When He Died, by Douglas Ankney
- Psychiatrist Settles Virginia Jail Suicide Suit for $1.75 Million
- Florida Court Strikes $10 Million of $16 Million Judgment Against Armor Correctional Health in Jail Death, by David Reutter
- Criminalizing Poverty Drives Mass Incarceration in Kentucky, Washington, by Douglas Ankney
- Settlements Total $3.85 Million for Nevada Prisoners Hit with Birdshot, by David Reutter
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- Missouri Warden, Four Guards Out After Prisoner’s Fatal Beating
- Fourth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Guards Who Left North Carolina Prisoner to Eat with Feces-Soiled Hands
- Alaska Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Claim for 11-Month Solitary Confinement That DOC Admitted Was Improper, by Douglas Ankney
- Washington Prisoner’s Sentence Vacated After Attorney Calls and Visits Were Recorded, by Douglas Ankney
- 3,500 Body-Worn Cameras Recalled from Rikers Island Guards After One Catches Fire
- $11 Million Settlement for Exonerated Michigan Prisoner, by David Reutter
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- Nevada DOC Under Fire for Hiring Unlicensed Medical Director
- Ending Prison Slavery on the Ballot in California, Nevada
- Addicted to Punishment: Jails and Prisons Punish Drug Use Far More Than They Treat It, by Emily Widra
- Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling
- Intellectually Disabled Georgia Prisoner Executed After SCOTUS Denies Appeal
- Maryland Pardons 175,000 Marijuana Misdemeanor Convictions
- Alabama Denies Parole to Dead Prisoner
- Condemned Alabama Prisoner Challenges Execution by Nitrogen Hypoxia, by David Reutter
- South Carolina Supreme Court Grants Prisoner Credit for Time Served Awaiting Revocation of Supervised Release
- Colorado Lawmakers Take a Pass on Cash Assistance for Released Prisoners, by Douglas Ankney
- Bar Complaint Revives 10-Year-Old Question: Why No Charges Filed Against Florida Guards Who Killed Prisoner?, by David Reutter
- Pro-Navalny Hackers Breach Russian Prison Computers, Lower Commissary Prices
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
- Colorado Supreme Court Announces Defendant Must Be Competent Before Undergoing Mental-Condition Examination Under § 16-8-107(3)(b), April 1, 2026
- California Court of Appeal Announces Plea Agreements Cannot Bar § 1172.1 Resentencing, Holds Merit-Based Denial of Petition Is Appealable, April 1, 2026
- Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies That Failure to Object to Ineligible Juror Does Not Constitute Waiver Unless Party Knew or Could Have Discovered Ineligibility Through Ordinary Diligence, April 1, 2026
- Washington State Guard’s Conviction Affirmed in Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound Scheme, March 1, 2026
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds Motion Judge Abused Discretion by Denying Evidentiary Hearing on IAC Claim Where Plea Counsel’s Affidavit Was Not Inherently Inconsistent With Colloquy Statements Regarding Immigration Advice, March 1, 2026
- Washington Supreme Court Clarifies Double Jeopardy Analysis for Multiple Assault Convictions, Holding That Assaultive Acts Occurring Over Short Time Period in Same Location Without Intervening Events Constitute Single Course of Conduct, March 1, 2026
- New Jersey Supreme Court Reverses Drug Convictions Under Cumulative Error Doctrine, Holding Combined Effect of Improper References to Television Series, Gun Violence, and Search Warrants Deprived Defendant of Fair Trial, March 1, 2026
- New York Court of Appeals Announces Coercive Police Tactics Compelling Suspect to Exit Home Constitute “Constructive Entry” Violating Payton, Holds Attenuation Analysis Applies to Third-Party Consent, March 1, 2026
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.
- Trump Wants $152 Million to Turn Alcatraz Back Into a Prison, May 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Federal Legislation, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
- 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.
- Two Texas Women Charged for Using Plastic Crows in Smuggling Scheme, April 1, 2026. Cell Phone Access, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Methamphetamine, Simple Possession/Personal Use versus Distribution.
- 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.
- Fourth Circuit to BOP Prisoner: Any “Disqualifying Offense” Means Zero FSA Credits, April 1, 2026. First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
- 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.
- Fourth Circuit Holds Federal Prisoner Does Not Earn First Step Act Time Credits While in Transit Between Prisons, March 1, 2026. Rehabilitation/Recidivism, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Credits.
- Federal Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Are Facing Retaliation by Trump, Feb. 1, 2026. Transfers, Pardons/Clemency, Death Row, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Shortage, Psychologists Flee Federal Prisons in Droves, Feb. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Inadequate Health Care Facilities.

