(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Jan. 6 prisoners, Whitmer kidnap inmates and numerous other dissidents have been held in solitary confinement—seemingly in retaliation for their political views.
Legislation has been introduced that aims to put a stop to such abuses.
The End Solitary Confinement Act would ban solitary confinement in federal facilities with limited exceptions, including for sleep, medical quarantine, emergency de-escalation, and as part of a necessary lockdown.
The legislation would also create standards such as capping the time that incarcerated people are alone at four hours, and requiring staff to meet them within one hour.
Throughout the U.S., roughly 122,000 prisoners are held in solitary confinement for 22 hours or more on a given day, according to a nonprofit watchdog report.
As Headline USA has reported, solitary confinement has been employed as punishment for numerous political prisoners.
For instance, two of the men convicted in the dubious Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, are being held in solitary at supermax facilities—where they’re prevented from speaking to the public.
Numerous Jan. 6 inmates have also been held in solitary—including, in a recent prominent instance, Infowars host Owen Shroyer.
And in the ongoing Headline USA investigative series, the Fed Files, this publication unearthed a shocking doctor’s report about an inmate that had been subjected to severe torture in solitary confinement.
“In 2014, while Mr. White was incarcerated at the John C. Polk Correctional Facility/Seminole County, FL, he was subjected to a regimen of sleep deprivation,” Dr. Richard Samuels wrote in his report on inmate Bill White.
“As described earlier, he was placed in segregation; alone in a small seven-foot by seven-foot room with constant bright illumination (24/7) over a period that of 105 days, or about three months, during which time he averaged approximately 1.2 hours of sleep per night,” Dr. Samuels wrote.
“During this period, he underwent a period of not eating or drinking and ultimately collapsed in his cell.”
But while Republican lawmakers have complained that the U.S. justice system is being weaponized against conservatives, the bill to end solitary confinement is only supported by Democrats thus far.
Journalist Christina Urso, who is working on a documentary about the Whitmer case, scolded Republicans for not supporting the End Solitary Confinement Act.
“I don’t know why the Republicans didn’t introduce this, but hopefully they will pass this,” Urso said. “I guess they don’t care about the J6 people they claim to care about, or the Whitmer guys, who they never mention.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
