Dignity and the Eighth Amendment: A New Approach to Challenging Solitary Confinement

The use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails has come under increasing scrutiny. Over the past few months, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy all but invited constitutional challenges to the use of solitary confinement, while President Obama asked, “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for 23 hours a day for months, sometime for years at a time?” Even some of the most notorious prisons and jails, including California’s Pelican Bay State Prison and New York’s Rikers Island, are reforming their use of solitary confinement because of successful litigation and public outcry. Rovner suggests that in light of these developments and “the Supreme Court’s increasing reliance on human dignity as a substantive value underlying and animating constitutional rights,” there is a strong case to make that long-term solitary confinement violates the constitutional right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment

Requiring the State to Justify Supermax Confinement for Mentally Ill Prisoners: A Disability Discrimination Approach

The Eighth Amendment has long served as the traditional legal vehicle for challenging prison conditions, including long-term isolation or supermax confinement. As described by Hafemeister and George in their article, The Ninth Circle of Hell: An Eighth Amendment Analysis of Imposing Prolonged Supermax Solitary Confinement on Inmates with a Mental Illness, some prisoners with mental illness have prevailed in Eighth Amendment challenges to prolonged isolation. Yet an equal or greater number of these claims have been unsuccessful. This Essay considers why some of these cases fail, and suggests that one reason is that Eighth Amendment jurisprudence does not contain a well-defined doctrinal framework for courts to use in considering a prison\u27s proffered legitimate penological interest in a given condition of confinement, including prolonged supermax confinement. In this Essay, we explore the idea that the federal disability discrimination statutes may offer a more tailored methodology for challenging solitary confinement of mentally ill prisoners. Unlike an Eighth Amendment claim, in which a prisoner typically challenges the aggregate of supermax conditions, a disability discrimination approach requires courts to assess the individual conditions that comprise supermax confinement, a process that requires an analysis of whether discrimination is occurring vis-a-vis each component deprivation. Finally, the Essay concludes by examining the disability discrimination approach in the context of claims asserted by the Civil Rights Clinic of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law on behalf of a mentally ill man who has been in isolation for over a decade

COVID -19 in American Prisons: Solitary Confinement is Not the Solution

As of November 12, 2020, at least 182,593 people incarcerated in American prisons, jails, and detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19; 1,412 incarcerated people have died.1 As the disease spread rapidly across the country (and world) in March 2020, public and prison health experts warned that jails and prisons could become incubators of the highly infectious disease.2 Recognizing the risk posed to the nation’s incarcerated population, public health officials issued interim guidance meant to assist prison officials seeking to protect the health and safety of incarcerated people.3 Simultaneously, prisoners’ rights advocates across the country filed lawsuits seeking to ensure prison systems protect incarcerated people from the risk posed by COVID-19.

Requiring the State to Justify Supermax Confinement for Mentally Ill Prisoners: A Disability Discrimination Approach

The Eighth Amendment has long served as the traditional legal vehicle for challenging prison conditions, including long-term isolation or supermax confinement. As described by Hafemeister and George in their article, The Ninth Circle of Hell: An Eighth Amendment Analysis of Imposing Prolonged Supermax Solitary Confinement on Inmates with a Mental Illness, some prisoners with mental illness have prevailed in Eighth Amendment challenges to prolonged isolation. Yet an equal or greater number of these claims have been unsuccessful. This Essay considers why some of these cases fail, and suggests that one reason is that Eighth Amendment jurisprudence does not contain a well-defined doctrinal framework for courts to use in considering a prison\u27s proffered legitimate penological interest in a given condition of confinement, including prolonged supermax confinement. In this Essay, we explore the idea that the federal disability discrimination statutes may offer a more tailored methodology for challenging solitary confinement of mentally ill prisoners. Unlike an Eighth Amendment claim, in which a prisoner typically challenges the aggregate of supermax conditions, a disability discrimination approach requires courts to assess the individual conditions that comprise supermax confinement, a process that requires an analysis of whether discrimination is occurring vis-a-vis each component deprivation. Finally, the Essay concludes by examining the disability discrimination approach in the context of claims asserted by the Civil Rights Clinic of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law on behalf of a mentally ill man who has been in isolation for over a decade

Associations between dietary micronutrient intake and molecular-Bacterial Vaginosis

Objectives Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a clinical condition characterized by decreased vaginal Lactobacillus spp., is difficult to treat. We examined associations between micronutrient intake and a low-Lactobacillus vaginal microbiota as assessed by molecular methods (termed “molecular-BV”). Methods This cross-sectional analysis utilized data collected at the baseline visit of the Hormonal Contraception Longitudinal Study, a cohort of reproductive-aged women followed over 2 years while initiating or ceasing hormonal contraception (HC). The Block Brief 2000 Food Frequency Questionnaire was administered and micronutrient intakes were ranked. Vaginal microbiota composition was assessed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and clustered into community state types (CSTs) based on the types and relative abundance of bacteria detected. Associations between the lowest estimated quartile intake of nutrients and having a low-Lactobacillus CST (molecular-BV) were evaluated by logistic regression. Separate models were built for each nutrient controlling for age, body mass index, behavioral factors, HC use and total energy intake. We also conducted a literature review of existing data on associations between micronutrient intakes and BV. Results Samples from 104 women were included in this analysis. Their mean age was 25.8 years (SD 4.3), 29.8% were African American, 48.1% were using HC, and 25% had molecular-BV. In adjusted multivariable analyses, the lowest quartile of betaine intake was associated with an increased odds of molecular-BV (aOR 9.2, p value < 0.01, [CI 2.4–35.0]). Conclusions This is the first study to assess the association between estimated micronutrient intake and molecular-BV. Lower energy-adjusted intake of betaine was associated with an increased risk of molecular-BV. Betaine might have direct effects on the vaginal microenvironment or may be mediated through the gut microbiota. Additional research is needed to determine reproducibility of this finding and whether improved intake of select micronutrients such as betaine decreases the risk of BV and its sequelae