A federal class-action lawsuit filed Monday is seeking to end solitary confinement at two maximum-security prisons in Virginia, claiming inmates have suffered PTSD, weight loss and hallucinations while spending up to nearly 24 years in isolation. “Solitary confinement should only be used in rare and exceptional cases as a last resort,” said Vishal Agraharkar, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Virginia. An aerial view of Red Onion State Prison in Wise County. Va. (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier/AP)The plaintiffs include Dmitry Khavkin, who spent nearly six years in solitary confinement after being convicted of murder and other charges. In September, the ACLU also sued the VDOC on behalf of an inmate convicted of murder who had been kept in solitary confinement for more than 12 years at Red Onion.

Source: Washington Post May 06, 2019 20:49 UTC