Prison accused of putting people in solitary confinement based on secret evidence

‘This is torture in its highest form, and it must end now,’ said one inmate

A Pennsylvania prison has been accused of putting people in solitary confinement based on secret evidence (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A Pennsylvania prison has been accused of putting people in solitary confinement based on secret evidence and driving a man to attempt suicide 10 times, according to a lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses prison officials at SCI Fayette, a Pennsylvania state prison, of placing inmates into confinement based on secret evidence, leaving them unable to challenge their placement.

Lawyers for the inmates have argued that this practice violates the constitutional rights of those incarcerated to due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

The lawsuit also alleges one inmate was told by an official at the prison to kill himself after making threats of suicide.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed by multiple civil rights groups against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) and others, the inmate then attempted suicide several times that night.

The inmate was allegedly transferred to an indefinite solitary confinement unit at SCI Fayette called the Security Threat Group Management Unit (STGMU) in November 2021 despite being identified as having a mental illness.

The suit states the prisoner, named as T Montana Bell, had previously been told that he would be on a unit where he would receive counseling. Instead, he was locked up alone.

Bell stayed at STGMU for almost two years, and attempted suicide at least 10 times, according to the lawsuit.

Lawyers also said one inmate smeared, “Kill me, I’m ready to go,” on his cell in his own blood, while other prisoners flooded their cells with dirty toilet water and punched walls.

Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, Deputy Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, said the DOC should shut the unit down.

“There’s not an element of how the unit is run or conceived that is operating by constitutional standards,” they told The Appeal. “When you have something that to its bare fundamental building blocks is unconstitutional, there’s no way to improve the unit.”

The lawsuit was filed a year ago by Bell, along with other inmates.

In a statement, he said solitary confinement “deteriorated me into a shell of who I used to be.”

He added: “We filed this lawsuit because we are suffering immensely and believe no one should experience this.

“This is torture in its highest form, and it must end now.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections declined to comment, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.