The Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of an Illinois inmate who sued the state after he spent two uninterrupted years and three years total in solitary confinement without any opportunities to go outside or get exercise.

A similar legal challenge from Texas was also on the horizon, presenting the nation’s highest court with another opportunity to examine the constitutionality of prolonged solitary confinement, and setting the stage for a potential ruling to determine whether the practice qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constituion. 

The Supreme court of United States of America. (Getty Images/Grant Faint)

Hope vs. Harris, the Texas case filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, has potential to compel the justices to narrow their focus to one particular issue that was raised in the Illinois case, which questioned the denial of regular outdoor exercise.

The previous case, Johnson vs. Prentice, was brought by Michael Johnson, a Black inmate at the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois since 2007, who claimed his constitutional rights were violated in an extreme case of isolation that began in 2013 when he had his exercise privileges suspended in response to ongoing misconduct.

Johnson, who was convicted of a violent home invasion and assault, has served an extended amount of his incarceration in solitary confinement due to disciplinary issues and multiple violations of prison rules, while the frequency and duration of the punishments have raised questions about the impact on Johnson’s mental health, especially given his previous diagnoses of severe depression and bipolar disorder.

During his confinement, Johnson endured “countless” stretches of 30 to 90 days in total isolation, confined to a small cell for 24 hours each day with no exercise or activity, which is the usual protocol for solitary inmates, his lawsuit claimed.

Johnson was only allowed to come out of his cell once a week for a 10-minute shower, further emphasizing the bleak situation he faced behind bars.

“The deprivation was not imposed to ensure the safety and security of the exercise yard,” Johnson’s attorneys argued in court papers, “but rather to punish Mr. Johnson for engaging in misconduct that was born of mental illness and unrelated to exercise.”

Johnson sued due to his plight, but in March 2022, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit dismissed Johnson’s claim that his lack of outdoor time amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. That ruling survived when the full panel of 10 judges tied 5-5 in their ruling.

Undeterred, Johnson appealed to the Supreme Court, whose conservative majority ruled unanimously on Nov. 13 to dismiss the claim, while the court’s three liberal justices dissented, calling it an “indisputable legal error” for the court to throw out the case.

“For three years, Johnson had no opportunity at all to stretch his limbs or breathe fresh air,” Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote for the minority, which was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. “Johnson’s mental state deteriorated rapidly. He suffered from hallucinations, excoriated his own flesh, urinated and defecated on himself, and smeared feces all over his body and cell.”

Jackson raised further questions about Johnson’s psychological condition due to his time in isolation, saying the inmate “sometimes engaged in misconduct with the hope that prison guards would beat him to death,” suggesting Johnson’s mistreatment likely amounted to “unconstitutional deliberate indifference” on the part of his jailers.

In other rulings on confinement, multiple federal judges have affirmed the rights of all inmates to have the basic right of access to regular exercise.

Legal experts cite a specific ruling on the matter more than 40 years ago by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that contradicts the recent judgments against Johnson’s appeal.

In 1979, future Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was serving on the bench in the Ninth Circuit when he issued the legal opinion in Spain vs. Procunier, which declared outdoor exercise “extremely important to the psychological and physical well-being of inmates,” Kennedy wrote, while also noting that it was “cruel and unusual punishment for a prisoner to be confined for a period of years without opportunity to go outside except for occasional court appearances, attorney interviews and hospital appointments.”

Human rights groups worldwide continue to call for an end to solitary confinement, decrying the practice as a torture method that violates international law.

Previously, President Joe Biden expressed his desire to put limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons as restrictive housing has surged in recent years, mostly due to the pandemic, while prison officials have also cited an effectiveness to discipline inmates and mitigate safety concerns.

The United States stands out globally for high incarceration rates and heavy reliance on solitary confinement, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, which released data in March showing tens of thousands of prisoners endure isolation every day for unknown durations, while facing severe physical and mental consequences that often result in tragic outcomes.

Former inmates faced a 24 percent higher risk of death within the first year of leaving prison, with 78 percent increased chance of suicide, 54 percent chance of committing a homicide, and a 127 percent chance of experiencing an opioid overdose within two weeks of release, the group said.

The U.S.-based advocacy group continues to put pressure on lawmakers to enact increased measures to end solitary confinement and search for alternative methods that would improve safety and well-being in the nation’s prison system.

“We simply cannot continue to ignore the facts and collateral damage of this unjustifiable practice,” the organization said in a statement. “Let us remember that the use of solitary confinement, even in the smallest increments, is harmful and it fails to improve prison or public safety. Legislators and advocates must continue their efforts to end solitary confinement for the most vulnerable among us.”

The psychological effects of solitary confinement, or administrative segregation, have been well-documented, with numerous studies emphasizing the heavy emotional and physical toll from prolonged isolation and inadequate mental health support.

In the ongoing push for criminal justice reform, dozens of states across the country have been actively addressing the issue of solitary confinement, NAMI said. Since 2009, 46 states introduced a total of 920 bills aimed at restricting or ending the practice, resulting in new legislation in 40 states. After 2021, 258 bills were filed in 41 states to regulate solitary confinement, while 39 of these policies passed successfully.

The efforts also led to the closure of entire prisons and isolation units, including the recent shutdowns of supermax prisons in New York and Connecticut, according to NAMI.