Solitary confinement

==Protests==
[[File:Print Party, in solidarity with a prisoner led- movement calling for the abolition of solitary confinement. prepping for a big rally and on Tuesday in Sacramento. -rinitempleton -abolishsolitary -art -artis (cropped).jpg|thumb|right]]
{{Globalize | date = June 2020}}

For nearly as long as solitary confinement has existed, there have been individuals and organized movements protesting its existence. As early as 1838, Quaker prison reformer [[Elizabeth Fry]] traveled throughout England and Scotland to speak to policymakers about the dangers of solitary and to call for a reduction in its use.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flower |first1=Ruth |title=Solitary Confinement and Quakers |url=https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2016-09/solitary-confinement-and-quakers |publisher=Friends Committee on National Legislation |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=28 September 2016}}</ref> During the mid- to late-20th century, solitary confinement served as a site of resistance for imprisoned Black radicals. At New York's [[Attica Correctional Facility]], for example, Black Muslims purposely filled restrictive housing units to prevent them from being used punitively against members of the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Felber |first1=Garrett |title=Those Who Know Don't Say: The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement, and the Carceral State |date=January 2020 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |page=68}}</ref>

In July 2011, individuals held in Security Housing Units (SHU) at [[Pelican Bay State Prison]] began a [[hunger strike]] to protest the "torturous conditions" in SHU.<ref name=Cohn2011/> The participants also sought to advocate for an end to California's policy of holding alleged gang members in indefinite solitary confinement, as well as the termination of the debriefing process, which compels people in solitary to identify either themselves or others as gang members in order to leave isolation.<ref name=Cohn2011/> Over the course of the strike, more than 6,000 incarcerated individuals throughout the California prison system stood in solidarity with the Pelican Bay hunger strikers by refusing food.<ref name=Cohn2011>{{cite journal |last=Cohn |first=Marjorie |title=Prisoners Strike Against Torture in California Prisons |date=Spring 2011 |journal=National Lawyers Guild Review |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=61–62 |url=http://marjoriecohn.com/prisoners-strike-against-torture-in-california-prisons |access-date=20 March 2014}}</ref> 

The men at Pelican Bay organized [[2013 California prisoner hunger strike|another strike]] in 2013, this time drawing 32,000 participants across 33 California prisons.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/california-prison-hunger-strike-30000_n_3567639.html |first=Kathleen |last=Miles |title=California Prison Hunger Strike: 30,000 Inmates Refuse Meals |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |date=9 July 2013 |language=en |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> As a result of the strike and subsequent litigation by the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]], the [[California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation]] agreed to end indefinite solitary confinement for all individuals in custody.<ref>{{cite web |title=Landmark Agreement Ends Indeterminate Long-Term Solitary Confinement in California |url=https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/landmark-agreement-ends-indeterminate-long-term-solitary |publisher=Center for Constitutional Rights |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=1 September 2015}}</ref> The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, a coalition of grassroots organizations and family members of strike participants, played a key role in raising public awareness for the strikers and their demands.<ref>{{cite web |title=About | date=3 June 2011 |url=https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/about/#:~:text=The%20Prisoner%20Hunger%20Strike%20Solidarity,to%20achieve%20their%20Five%20Core |publisher=Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> 

In the years following the Pelican Bay strikes, incarcerated individuals across the United States have continued to organize for improved prison conditions, including an end to prolonged solitary confinement. In 2022, incarcerated workers in Alabama [[strike action|withheld labor]] to draw attention to harsh prison conditions and the need for [[Decarceration in the United States|decarceration]].<ref name = alabama>{{cite web |last1=Ware |first1=Jared |title=Alabama prison strikers' demands push for decarceration |url=https://prismreports.org/2022/11/11/alabama-prison-strikers-demands-decarceration/ |publisher=Prism |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=11 November 2022}}</ref> In 2023, dozens of incarcerated individuals in Texas went on hunger strike to protest the state's solitary confinement policies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flahive |first1=Paul |title=A Texas prisoners' hunger strike didn't bring the change they'd hoped. Inmates plan to strike again. |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/26/hunger-strike-prison-texas |publisher=WBUR |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=26 April 2023}}</ref> Prison officials in some cases have retaliated against strike participants by sending them to solitary confinement.<ref name = alabama/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Honig |first1=Doug |last2=Lee |first2=Melissa |title=Hunger Strikers Released from Solitary Confinement at New Detention Center |date=4 April 2014 |publisher=[[American Civil Liberties Union]] of Washington State |url=https://aclu-wa.org/news/hunger-strikers-released-solitary-confinement-nw-detention-center |access-date=12 June 2016}}</ref>