What You Need to Know About Solitary Confinement in Georgia’s Prisons

TL;DR

Georgia locks people in tiny cells for 22 or more hours a day. Some have been there for years — even decades. A federal judge found that Georgia’s prison system broke its promises to fix these conditions. The state even faked its records to hide the truth. Over 150 years of research shows that this kind of isolation causes deep mental harm. The United Nations calls it torture when it lasts more than 15 days.

Why This Matters

If someone you love is in a Georgia prison, they could be placed in solitary at any time. They may be locked in a cell the size of a parking space. They may get no time outside. They may lose access to phone calls, visits, and programs.

People held this way often develop panic attacks, hearing voices, and deep sadness. They are far more likely to hurt themselves or die by suicide. When they finally get out, many struggle to cope with noise, people, and new rules.

The state has been ordered to fix these problems. But a federal judge found Georgia’s prison system had “no desire or intention to comply.” That means your loved one may still face these harms today.

Almost half of all guard jobs in Georgia prisons are empty. Without enough staff, people can’t even be walked to the yard or a doctor. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that people have “bled out from treatable stab wounds, waiting for a guard escort.”

Key Takeaway: Solitary confinement in Georgia’s prisons causes severe harm, and the state has been caught breaking its promises to fix conditions.

What Is Solitary Confinement?

Solitary means being locked in a small cell for 22 or more hours a day. There is almost no contact with other people. Meals come through a slot in the door.

In Georgia, the main solitary unit is the Special Management Unit (SMU). It is at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Cells are about 6 feet by 9 feet — roughly the size of a parking space. Doors are solid metal with a small glass window. There is no outside light.

An expert who visited the SMU called it “one of the harshest and most draconian” solitary units in the country. He said the unit was “as chaotic and out-of-control as any such unit I have seen in decades.”

Key Takeaway: Georgia’s main solitary unit has been called one of the harshest in the entire country by a leading expert.

What Does the Research Say?

More than 150 years of study shows that solitary causes serious mental harm. A major review found the research has been “strikingly consistent since the early nineteenth century.”

Here is what happens to people in solitary:

• 91% report anxiety
• 86% report being very sensitive to sounds and lights
• 83% pull away from other people
• 77% report lasting sadness (depression)
• 70% feel like they are having a nervous breakdown
• 68% report heart racing

A 2025 study looked at data from 171,300 people in prison. It found that those in solitary had far worse mental health. They had more self-harm and more need for mental health care.

People with mental illness in solitary are about 7 times more likely to hurt themselves than those in the general prison population (the main part of the prison).

Key Takeaway: The science is clear: solitary confinement causes severe mental harm, and people with mental illness are hit hardest.

Solitary and Suicide

People in solitary make up only about 6–8% of the total U.S. prison population. But they account for roughly 50% of all prison suicides. That means about half of all people who die by suicide in prison were in solitary.

The harm doesn’t stop when isolation ends. Research shows that people who spent any time in solitary are more likely to die early after release. This includes death by suicide, violence, and drug overdose.

In Georgia, 39% of people in the SMU had a diagnosed mental illness. These are some of the most at-risk people in the system. Yet the state placed them in conditions that make mental illness worse.

Key Takeaway: About half of all prison suicides happen among the small group of people in solitary — even though they are only 6–8% of the prison population.

The Cycling Trap

A 2025 study found that solitary is not a one-time event for many people. It becomes a cycle they can’t escape.

When people leave solitary, they face three major shocks:

1. Sensory overload — After months or years of quiet, the noise and movement are overwhelming.
2. Social confusion — They can’t handle being around other people after long isolation.
3. Rule changes — The daily routine is completely different, and they struggle to adjust.

Some people break rules on purpose just to go back to solitary. The harm is great, but at least it’s what they know. This cycle makes reform harder. Simply limiting the number of days isn’t enough if conditions elsewhere are also broken.

Key Takeaway: Many people cycle in and out of solitary because the shift is so jarring — some even break rules to go back to what feels familiar.

Racial Disparities in Solitary

Black people are locked in solitary at rates far higher than their share of the prison population.

Federal Bureau of Prisons data from 2022 shows:

• Black people made up 38% of the total federal prison population
• But they made up 59% of Special Management Unit placements
• White people made up 58% of the total population
• But only 35% of SMU placements

Among women, the gap is also stark. Black women made up 42% of women in solitary but only 22% of the total female prison population.

This means the state is not applying solitary equally. Black people face a much higher risk of being placed in isolation.

Key Takeaway: Black people are placed in solitary at far higher rates than their share of the prison population — a clear racial disparity.

The World Says This Is Torture

The United Nations adopted the Mandela Rules in 2015. These rules set global standards for how prisons should treat people. They are named for Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison.

The Mandela Rules say:

• Solitary means 22 or more hours a day in a cell with no real human contact
• Any solitary lasting more than 15 days in a row is “prolonged” solitary
• Prolonged solitary is banned because it is a form of torture

Multiple UN experts on torture have backed this up. In 2011 and again in 2020, UN leaders said that solitary beyond 15 days is psychological torture.

In Georgia, 78% of people in the SMU had been held for more than 2 years. That is far, far beyond the 15-day limit the world considers torture.

Key Takeaway: The United Nations says solitary lasting more than 15 days is torture — yet people in Georgia have been held for years.

How Long Were People Held in Georgia’s SMU?

Data from July 2017 shows how long people were locked in Georgia’s main solitary unit. There were 182 people in the SMU at that time.

• 78% (141 people) had been held for more than 2 years
• 44% (80 people) had been held for more than 4 years
• 26% (47 people) had been held for more than 5 years

Some cases were even more extreme:

• Timothy Gumm was held for 7.5 years. Staff recommended his transfer 14 separate times over 4 years. He was never moved.
• Johnny Mack Brown was held for 9 years.
• Robert Watkins was held for 8 to 10 years.

Remember: the UN says anything over 15 days is torture. These people were held for thousands of days.

Key Takeaway: Most people in Georgia’s solitary unit were held for over 2 years — some for nearly a decade — far beyond what the world considers torture.

Georgia Broke Its Promises: The Contempt Order

In 2015, Timothy Gumm wrote a lawsuit by hand after 5 years in solitary. His case became a major legal fight.

In January 2019, Georgia’s prison system agreed to make changes. The deal required:

• At least 3 hours of out-of-cell time per day, plus 1 hour outside
• Access to classes, tablets, books, and mental health care
• A 24-month maximum stay in the SMU
• Reviews for transfer before release

But Georgia didn’t follow through. In April 2024, Chief Judge Marc T. Treadwell wrote a 100-page order finding the state in contempt of court.

Here is what the judge found:

• Officials stripped people naked and left them in bare cells for hours or days
• People got no time outside their cells, no programs, and no mental health care
• The state faked its compliance records
• One person was in a cell with a broken toilet filled with feces. He had no mattress and no clothes in freezing cold.
• The state’s lawyer did not deny this testimony

The judge wrote that the state was “running a four-corner offense and had no desire or intention to comply.”

The court ordered:

• $2,500 per day in fines ($75,000 per month for 6 months)
• An independent monitor to watch over conditions
• Extension of the original agreement

Key Takeaway: A federal judge found Georgia’s prison system faked records and showed “no desire or intention” to follow court-ordered reforms.

More Horrors Beyond the SMU

The SMU is not the only problem. At Smith State Prison in Glennville, a person was held in a shower stall for nearly 3 days. The stall measured just 3.75 feet by 6.75 feet.

There was no mattress. No toilet. No air flow. No heat. No water.

That person hanged himself.

This violates Georgia’s own rules. Experts have long warned that holding people in shower stalls greatly raises the risk of suicide.

Key Takeaway: A person held in a tiny shower stall with no toilet, no heat, and no water for 3 days died by suicide — a direct result of Georgia’s practices.

The Staffing Crisis Makes Everything Worse

In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 93-page report on Georgia’s prisons. One key finding: the state can’t keep guards.

• The vacancy rate is about 50% across the whole system. That means about half of all guard jobs are empty.
• At the 10 largest prisons, the vacancy rate is over 70%. That means more than 7 out of 10 guard jobs are empty.

Without guards, people can’t leave their cells. There is no one to walk them to the yard, to classes, or to the doctor. Court orders mean nothing if there is no one to carry them out.

The DOJ found that people have “bled out from treatable stab wounds, waiting for a guard escort.” The staffing crisis is not just about solitary — it is about life and death.

Key Takeaway: About half of all guard jobs in Georgia prisons are empty, making court-ordered reforms impossible to carry out.

The Courts Are Split — And That Hurts Georgia

Different federal courts disagree about whether solitary violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Some courts say yes, it can:

• The Third Circuit found that 33 years of solitary can be cruel and unusual
• The Fourth Circuit cited research showing isolation always causes harm after 10 days

Other courts say no:

• The Fifth Circuit ruled that solitary does not violate the Constitution “no matter how long it is imposed”

The Supreme Court has refused to settle the question. In 2023, it turned down the case of Dennis Wayne Hope. He was held in solitary for 27 years — from 1994 to 2021 — in a cell just 54 square feet. He got only one personal phone call in all that time.

Georgia is in the Eleventh Circuit, which has no clear rule on this issue. That means any Georgia case could set new law for the whole region — including Alabama and Florida.

Key Takeaway: The Supreme Court has refused to set a national rule on solitary — leaving Georgia prisoners without clear legal protection.

What Needs to Change

The evidence is clear. Here is what Georgia should do:

1. Limit solitary to 15 days — in line with UN standards and growing state practice
2. Ban solitary for vulnerable people — those with mental illness, pregnant women, young adults, and older adults
3. Hire enough staff to actually carry out reforms and keep people safe
4. Report data publicly — how many people are in solitary, for how long, and broken down by race
5. Comply with court orders — stop faking records and start following the law
6. Address the cycling problem — improve general housing conditions so people aren’t trapped going in and out of solitary

The 2026 Governor’s race is a chance to push for real change. Voters and families should demand clear answers from every candidate.

Key Takeaway: Georgia must limit solitary to 15 days, ban it for vulnerable people, hire enough staff, and stop faking compliance records.

Glossary

• Solitary confinement: Being locked in a small cell for 22 or more hours a day with almost no human contact. Also called “restrictive housing,” “segregation,” or “isolation.”
• Special Management Unit (SMU): Georgia’s main long-term solitary unit, located at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.
• Mandela Rules: United Nations rules for how prisons should treat people. Named for Nelson Mandela. They say solitary beyond 15 days is torture.
• Eighth Amendment: The part of the U.S. Constitution that bans cruel and unusual punishment.
• Circuit split: When different federal courts disagree on the same legal question. Right now, courts disagree on whether solitary violates the Constitution.
• Contempt of court: When a judge finds that someone broke a court order on purpose. A judge found Georgia’s prison system in contempt in April 2024.
• Cycling: The pattern of people going in and out of solitary over and over. It happens because leaving solitary is so jarring that some people break rules to go back.
• Reentry shocks: The three big challenges people face when leaving long-term solitary: too much noise and input, trouble being around people, and sudden changes in rules.
• Strip cell: A bare cell where people are held without clothes, a bed, or basic needs.
• DOJ: The U.S. Department of Justice — the federal agency that looked into Georgia’s prisons.
• Vacancy rate: The share of jobs that are empty and unfilled.
• Pro se: When someone files a legal case on their own, without a lawyer. Timothy Gumm wrote his lawsuit by hand.

Read the Source Document

This post is based on GPS’s research brief: Solitary Confinement & Restrictive Housing: Investigative Research Brief (February 2026).

Read the full research brief (PDF) →

Other Versions of This Analysis

We write each analysis for different audiences:

• For Legislators → — Policy-focused version with reform options
• For Media → — Press-ready version with story angles and sources
• For Advocates → — Detailed version with legal and organizing strategy