WASHINGTON, D.C. — Solitary Watch announced that seven incarcerated journalists have been awarded grants to report on solitary confinement, funding projects that aim to expose prison policies and practices from the inside out while examining their impact on incarcerated individuals and broader society.
The funding will support “projects that expose prison policies and practices from the inside out” and examine their impact on incarcerated individuals and broader society.
The selected journalists, all of whom have experienced solitary confinement, will investigate issues ranging from the implementation of reform policies to the psychological effects of isolation.
Their work will also explore disparities in public empathy, including why “Americans seem to care more about a gorilla in captivity than humans in torture chambers.”
Juan Moreno Haines, editor in chief of Solitary Watch and a formerly incarcerated journalist, emphasized the significance of these perspectives, stating the stories “uniquely document the harms done to people sent to solitary confinement” and “shine a light on this archaic and torturous practice in ways that outside journalists never can.”
Haines further described solitary confinement as “a failed policy that continues to unnecessarily harm incarcerated people,” while noting that the reporting also reveals “the dignity and resiliency of the human spirit that even isolation and abuse cannot fully destroy.”
In addition to financial support, the Ridgeway Reporting Project will provide editorial guidance, research assistance and help placing stories in publications, expanding opportunities for incarcerated journalists to reach wider audiences.
As a nonprofit organization administering the program, Solitary Watch has worked for more than a decade to raise awareness of solitary confinement, describing its mission as producing “high-quality investigative journalism, accurate information and authentic storytelling from both sides of prison walls.”
Kwaneta Harris, a senior writer and editor at Solitary Watch, highlighted the urgency of amplifying voices from inside prisons, stating that when oversight is reduced, “the only witnesses left are those of us locked inside — and silence is exactly what the system is counting on.”
She added that the project serves as “the last line of accountability between what they say happens behind these walls and what actually does,” describing the work as “not just journalism — that is survival testimony.”
The grant recipients will cover a range of topics, including gaps between official claims and lived experiences of solitary confinement, the use of isolation before conviction and the long-term psychological effects associated with death row conditions.
Other projects will examine the role of family connections in preventing placement in solitary confinement, as well as the impact of policy reforms such as New York’s HALT Solitary Confinement Act.
The Ridgeway Reporting Project honors investigative journalist James Ridgeway, who founded Solitary Watch and spent decades documenting prison conditions.
Supporters of the initiative emphasize that reporting from incarcerated individuals provides perspectives that cannot be replicated by outside observers.
As one project judge noted, “it is only the incarcerated or formerly imprisoned journalist who can take the public into the very heart of the prison experience,” adding that “the voice of the experienced is absolutely necessary.”
The grant-supported projects will focus on specific aspects of solitary confinement, including how reform policies are implemented, the use of isolation before conviction and the psychological effects associated with long-term confinement.
The grant-supported projects will further examine how policies are applied in practice, including access to communication, restrictions on daily activities and the broader impact of isolation on individuals and their families.
These efforts aim to provide clearer insight into conditions that are often difficult for the public to observe or verify from outside prison systems.
More broadly, the initiative reflects an effort to expand access to journalism within correctional systems, where opportunities to report are often limited.
Organizers emphasized that increasing visibility of these conditions may contribute to more informed public discussions and policy considerations.
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