The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of an Illinois inmate, Michael Johnson, who spent three years in solitary confinement. According to a CNN report, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, along with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, dissented from the decision not to take up the appeal, citing the "dismal conditions" of Johnson's confinement. "For three years, Johnson had no opportunity at all to stretch his limbs or breathe fresh air," Jackson wrote, detailing Johnson's severe mental decline, hallucinations, and self-harm during his time in solitary. The inmate's behavior, as described, included the self-excoriation of his flesh and other disturbing actions.
Johnson's advocates argued that the extended use of solitary confinement as a punishment, for actions they claimed were a result of his mental illness, was unnecessary and fully violated the Constitution's ban on cruel punishment. The lower court, however, upheld the Illinois Department of Corrections' stance that the yard restrictions and solitary confinement were justified due to Johnson's continued severe misconduct. The Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul argued that the prison officials could not be accused of deliberate indifference as they deferred to the decisions made by Johnson's healthcare providers.
Meanwhile, in a separate but related development touching on the use of solitary confinement in Illinois, a report from the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights has branded the practice as a violation of international human rights laws. As the Chicago Sun-Times obtained, the report called for a significant reduction or restriction in the practice, which they claim induces severe mental health issues and increases the risk of inmate suicides. Joseph Moore, who spent 15 months in solitary, told the Sun-Times, “It’s horrible back there. It’s abject deprivation. We, as human beings, we ain’t biologically designed to be alone.”
The debate over solitary confinement is reignited with legislators advocating for reform. A bill in the Illinois General Assembly, the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, seeks to limit solitary confinement to no more than 10 consecutive days within any 180 days. The bill also aims to force the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide quarterly reports on its use. State Rep. Kam Buckner, a sponsor of the legislation, told the Sun-Times that the bill would create "transparency on how IDOC uses solitary confinement." However, the IDOC maintains that their practices do not violate human rights laws, and they are not practicing solitary confinement as it is being characterized by activists.
Amidst these developments, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has introduced similar federal legislation to limit the use of solitary confinement.
