Texas death row inmates sue state over ‘brutal’ solitary conditions
source: The Guardian
published: 27 January 2023
Image Credit: Jimmy Chan at www.Pexels.com
A class action suit has been brought on behalf of the 185 male prisoners on death row in Texas, accusing the state of violating the inmates’ constitutional rights by holding them in permanent solitary confinement in some cases for more than 20 years.
The state’s prison authorities are alleged to be inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment” on the men in breach of the eighth amendment of the US constitution. The lawsuit describes how the prisoners are held in “devastating conditions” in isolation for up to 23 years without pause, with almost 80% of the death row occupants having been in solitary for more than 10 years.
“The conditions on death row in Texas have been characterized as some of the most brutal death row conditions in the country. The plaintiffs are seeking relief from conditions that have been described as torture,” said Pieter Van Tol of the global law firm Hogan Lovells which filed the suit on behalf of the men in a federal court in Houston on Thursday.”
Texas is facing mounting challenges to its widespread use of solitary confinement. The state currently houses more than 3,000 prisoners in solitary, and sits at the top of the league table in the US for the number of prisoners it has detained in isolation for more than 10 years (more than 500).
Scores of Texas prisoners in general population have entered the third week of a hunger strike protesting against being confined in solitary. They are objecting to being segregated in isolation cells because of alleged association with prison gangs, with no assessment of their risk to themselves or others.
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