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As of July 2023, Solitary Watch has collected over 150 personal essays, stories, and poems written by individuals who have survived the lived experience of solitary confinement. Titles in the series include "Living on
Deathwatch," "Books are a Spark in the Dark," "Everyday Torture," and "A Sentence
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Since 2019, Solitary Watch has worked with currently and formerly incarcerated journalists to craft long-form articles on solitary confinement that are co-published with other media outlets. The journalists are selected through a competitive application process and are supported by grants ranging
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In 2015, as part of its "Lifelines to
Solitary" initiative, Solitary Watch started a pen pal program designed to connect individuals in solitary confinement with volunteers on the outside. The organization also coordinates the "Photo Requests from Solitary" project, which invites individuals in
98:, the website features original reporting, fact sheets, resources and information, and the "Voices from Solitary" project, which collects firsthand narratives from people who have served time in solitary confinement. Within its first nine months, the website attracted over 100,000 visitors.
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463:"Solitary Confinement is Never the Answer: A Special Report on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Prisons and Jails, the Use of Solitary Confinement, and Best Practices for Saving the Lives of Incarcerated People and Correctional Staff"
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as a "minor act of rebellion" for being "composed of communication and observation that is not supposed to exist." The firsthand accounts in the book are supplemented by writings from medical, legal, and human rights experts.
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from $ 500 to $ 2500. Originally known as the
Solitary Confinement Reporting Project, the initiative was renamed the Ridgeway Reporting Project after Solitary Watch co-founder James Ridgeway passed away in February 2021.
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in 2016. The first major anthology of essays written by people in solitary confinement, the book aims to shed light on the humanitarian crisis taking place in United States prisons and jails and has been described in the
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Solitary
Confinement is Never the Answer: A Special Report on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Prisons and Jails, the Use of Solitary Confinement, and Best Practices for Saving the Lives of Incarcerated People and Correctional
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solitary to request images of real or imagined scenes. These requests are fulfilled by outside artists and sent back to the person who made the request.
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386:"Calculating Torture: Analysis of Federal, State, and Local Data Showing More Than 122,000 People in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons and Jails"
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Calculating
Torture: Analysis of Federal, State, and Local Data Showing More Than 122,000 People in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons and Jails
438:"Louisiana on Lockdown: A Report on the Use of Solitary Confinement in Louisiana State Prisons, With Testimony from the People Who Live It"
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Louisiana on
Lockdown: A Report on the Use of Solitary Confinement in Louisiana State Prisons, With Testimony from the People Who Live It
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199:. American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center, and Solitary Watch, February 2017.
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443:. Solitary Watch, ACLU Louisiana, and Jesuit Social Research Institute/Loyola University New Orleans. June 2019
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186:. Solitary Watch, American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, and Loyola University New Orleans, June 2019.
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242:"Lifelines to Solitary: Direct Outreach for the Thousands of People in Solitary Confinement"
493:. ACLU Nevada, Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center, and Solitary Watch. February 2017
338:"Now Available in Paperback: Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices From Solitary Confinement"
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is a web-based project that aims to bring public attention to the widespread use of
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488:"Unlocking Solitary Confinement: Ending Extreme Isolation in Nevada State Prisons"
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Solitary Watch's James
Ridgeway and Jean Casella, along with survivor of solitary
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Unlocking
Solitary Confinement: Ending Extreme Isolation in Nevada State Prisons
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and other harsh prison conditions to generate public debate and policy change.
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Solitary Watch launched its website in
December 2009. Created by journalist
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Casella, Jean; Ridgeway, James; Shourd, Sarah, eds. (2016-02-02).
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Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from
Solitary Confinement
193:. Solitary Watch and the Unlock the Box Campaign, June 2020.
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Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement
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164:. Solitary Watch and the Unlock the Box Campaign, May 2023.
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Alternet Interview with James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
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Human rights organizations based in the United States
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468:. Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box. June 2020
391:. Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box. June 2023
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180:. New York: The New Press, 2016.
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156:Selected publications
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