Solitary Confinement in Georgia: An Advocacy Toolkit for Ending State-Sanctioned Torture

Why This Research Matters for Advocacy

This research brief is one of the most comprehensive compilations of evidence against solitary confinement ever assembled with a Georgia focus — and it arrives at a critical moment.

Georgia’s Department of Corrections is under simultaneous federal court oversight and U.S. Department of Justice scrutiny. In April 2024, a federal judge issued a 100-page contempt order finding that GDC “flagrantly violated” a settlement agreement designed to reform conditions in the state’s Special Management Unit (SMU). Six months later, the DOJ published a 93-page findings report documenting a pattern of unconstitutional conditions across the entire Georgia prison system.

This is not a report about theoretical harms. It documents what the state of Georgia is doing — right now — to people in its custody:

• Holding people in 6-by-9-foot cells for years or even decades, in conditions a leading national expert called “one of the harshest and most draconian” solitary confinement facilities in the nation.
• Falsifying compliance documents to create the appearance of reform while denying people basic necessities — clothing, functioning toilets, mental health care, and time outside their cells.
• Operating at approximately 50% staffing vacancy, making it structurally impossible to comply with court-ordered reforms, while people with treatable injuries die waiting for a guard escort.

The evidence in this brief connects Georgia’s practices to 150 years of research documenting that prolonged solitary confinement causes severe and sometimes irreversible psychological harm. The United Nations classifies solitary exceeding 15 days as torture. Georgia has held people for 7, 8, 9, and more years.

For advocates, this brief is a force multiplier. It synthesizes academic research, international law, national reform trends, federal court rulings, and Georgia-specific findings into a single document that can anchor legislative testimony, media engagement, coalition strategy, and legal advocacy. The 2026 gubernatorial race creates an urgent window to demand policy commitments from candidates. Use this research to make solitary confinement an issue no candidate can ignore.

Key Takeaway: This research brief combines 150+ years of academic evidence, international standards, and damning Georgia-specific findings to provide advocates with an unassailable foundation for demanding the end of prolonged solitary confinement in Georgia.

Talking Points

Use these pre-written talking points in legislative testimony, coalition meetings, media interviews, and written communications. Each is backed by data from this research brief.

1. People in solitary confinement account for roughly 50% of all prison suicides despite comprising only 6–8% of the prison population. Georgia cannot claim to care about prisoner safety while subjecting people to conditions that produce this level of self-harm.

2. In July 2017, 78% of people in Georgia’s Special Management Unit had been held in isolation for more than 2 years — and 26% for more than 5 years. The United Nations defines any solitary confinement exceeding 15 consecutive days as torture. Georgia is holding people for years.

3. A federal judge found that GDC “flagrantly violated” its own settlement agreement, falsified compliance documents, and showed “no desire or intention to comply” with court-ordered reforms. This is not a system struggling to improve — it is a system actively resisting accountability.

4. 39% of people in Georgia’s SMU had a diagnosed mental illness, yet they were held in conditions that a leading expert warned create “significant risk of very serious psychological harm” and potential “irreversible and even fatal harm.” Georgia is inflicting psychiatric damage on some of the most vulnerable people in its custody.

5. GDC operates at approximately 50% staffing vacancy systemwide and greater than 70% at the 10 largest facilities. Without staff, court-ordered out-of-cell time, recreation, and programming are impossible. The state’s failure to fund adequate staffing guarantees continued suffering.

6. Black individuals constituted 38% of the total federal prison population but 59% of Special Management Unit placements. Racial disparities in who gets placed in solitary confinement compound the already devastating disparities in who gets incarcerated.

7. People held in Georgia’s SMU were confined to cells measuring approximately 6 feet by 9 feet — roughly the size of a parking space — with solid metal doors and no outside light, for 22 to 24 hours per day. These are not correctional practices. These are conditions designed to break human beings.

8. At Smith State Prison, a person was held in a shower stall measuring 3.75 feet by 6.75 feet for nearly 3 days with no mattress, toilet, ventilation, heat, or water. He hanged himself. The state of Georgia’s use of solitary confinement kills people.

Key Takeaway: Eight data-backed talking points ready for immediate use in testimony, meetings, media interviews, and written advocacy.

Important Quotes

These quotes are extracted directly from the source document. Cite them in testimony, letters, and media communications.

On Georgia’s deliberate defiance of court orders:

“It became clear to the Court that the defendants, in effect, were running a four-corner offense and had no desire or intention to comply with the Court’s injunction; they would stall until the injunction expired.”
— Chief Judge Marc T. Treadwell, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia, April 2024 Contempt Order (Section 5.2)

On the severity of Georgia’s solitary confinement:

Dr. Craig Haney described the SMU as “one of the harshest and most draconian” solitary confinement facilities in the nation and “as chaotic and out-of-control as any such unit I have seen in decades of conducting evaluations.”
(Section 5.1)

On the clinical harm of solitary confinement:

Dr. Stuart Grassian described solitary confinement conditions as “strikingly toxic to mental functioning, producing a stuporous condition associated with perceptual and cognitive impairment and affective disturbances.”
(Section 1.1)

On the DOJ’s findings across Georgia’s prison system:

“Our findings report lays bare the horrific and inhumane conditions that people are confined to inside Georgia’s state prison system. People are assaulted, stabbed, raped and killed or left to languish inside facilities that are woefully understaffed. Inmates are maimed and tortured, relegated to an existence of fear, filth and not so benign neglect.”
— Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke (Section 5.4)

On how staffing shortages compound isolation’s harms:

The DOJ noted that victims of gang violence have “bled out from treatable stab wounds, waiting for a guard escort.”
(Section 5.4)

On the international standard:

Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison, called solitary confinement “the most forbidding aspect of prison life.”
(Section 2.1)

On the consistency of research findings:

Research has been “strikingly consistent since the early nineteenth century” in documenting a wide range of adverse psychological reactions to solitary confinement.
— Crime and Justice, Vol. 47, 2018 (Section 1.1)

Key Takeaway: Seven powerful quotes from federal judges, leading experts, DOJ officials, and peer-reviewed research that advocates can cite directly in their work.

How to Use This in Your Advocacy

Legislative Testimony

When testifying before Georgia legislative committees — or any legislative body considering solitary confinement reform — frame your testimony around three pillars:

1. The evidence is settled. Over 150 years of research consistently documents severe psychological harm from solitary confinement. A 2025 meta-analysis of 171,300 people confirmed significantly greater psychological distress, psychiatric symptoms, and self-harm among those in disciplinary confinement. No credible scientific body disputes these findings.

2. Georgia is an outlier. At least seven states enacted solitary confinement reform legislation in 2021 alone. Connecticut and Nevada have adopted 15-day limits aligned with the UN Mandela Rules. Colorado, Delaware, North Dakota, and Vermont no longer house people under restrictive housing definitions. Georgia has no state legislation limiting solitary.

3. Court orders have failed because GDC refuses to comply. The 2019 Gumm v. Jacobs settlement required basic reforms. In April 2024, a federal judge found GDC “flagrantly violated” that settlement, falsified compliance documents, and showed “no desire or intention to comply.” Legislative action is necessary because judicial oversight alone has proven insufficient.

Use the statistics from this brief to anchor every claim. Lead with the human impact: 78% of people held for more than 2 years. A person confined in a shower stall for 3 days who took his own life. People left naked in strip cells for days.

Public Comment

During public comment periods — whether on proposed regulations, budget hearings, or DOJ consent decree negotiations:

• Lead with the 15-day international standard. The UN Mandela Rules define solitary exceeding 15 consecutive days as torture. Georgia held 26% of SMU prisoners for more than 5 years.
• Emphasize the fiscal cost of noncompliance. The federal court imposed $2,500 per day in fines — $75,000 per month — plus independent monitor costs and attorney’s fees. Taxpayers are paying for GDC’s defiance.
• Demand transparency. Call for public reporting on the number of people in isolation, duration of confinement, mental health diagnoses, and demographic data.

Media Pitches

Journalists need angles. Here are four ready-made pitches:

• “Georgia’s Prison System Faked Its Own Reform.” A federal judge found GDC falsified compliance documents for a court-ordered settlement governing solitary confinement conditions. The 100-page contempt order details systematic deception.
• “27 Years in a 54-Square-Foot Cell — and the Supreme Court Looked Away.” The circuit split on solitary confinement’s constitutionality means that Georgia prisoners’ rights depend on what the Eleventh Circuit — which has no definitive ruling — decides next. Gumm v. Jacobs could set precedent for Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
• “Half of Prison Suicides Come from 6% of the Population.” People in solitary account for roughly 50% of all prison suicides. In Georgia, 39% of people in the SMU had diagnosed mental illness, and the state held them in conditions experts warned could cause “irreversible and even fatal harm.”
• “The 2026 Governor’s Race and Georgia’s Torture Problem.” Press candidates on whether they support 15-day limits, transparency mandates, and funding the staffing levels needed to comply with existing court orders.

Coalition Building

This research supports alliances across multiple advocacy communities:

• Mental health organizations: 39% of people in Georgia’s SMU had diagnosed mental illness. People with mental illness in solitary are 7 times more likely to self-harm. Mental health advocates have a direct stake in solitary reform.
• Racial justice organizations: Black individuals are dramatically overrepresented in solitary confinement — 59% of federal SMU placements versus 38% of the total prison population. Solitary is a racial justice issue.
• Fiscal conservatives: GDC’s noncompliance is costing taxpayers $75,000 per month in court-imposed fines, plus independent monitor and attorney costs. Reform is cheaper than contempt.
• LGBTQ+ organizations: The DOJ found that queer and transgender prisoners were placed in solitary after reporting sexual assault or during mental health crises — punishing victims for their own victimization.
• Faith communities: The Mandela Rules, named for a person of deep faith who endured 27 years of imprisonment, speak to the moral dimension of how we treat the most marginalized.

Written Communications

In letters to legislators, the Governor’s office, GDC, and the DOJ:

• Always cite the April 2024 contempt order and the October 2024 DOJ findings report — these are federal government findings, not advocacy claims.
• Include specific statistics: 78% held more than 2 years, 39% with mental illness, 50% staffing vacancy, $2,500/day in fines.
• Name the responsible parties: GDC, Commissioner, the Governor’s office. Do not use passive voice. The state chose these conditions.
• Close with a specific ask: legislation with a 15-day limit, mandatory public reporting, funded staffing plans, or compliance with the DOJ recommendations.

Key Takeaway: Detailed guidance for using this research in five advocacy contexts: legislative testimony, public comment, media pitches, coalition building, and written communications to officials.

Use Impact Justice AI

Need to draft a letter to your legislator? Prepare testimony for a committee hearing? Write a public comment for a DOJ proceeding? Create a fact sheet for your coalition?

Impact Justice AI can help you generate customized advocacy materials using this research and other GPS data. The tool can help you:

• Draft legislative testimony tailored to specific committees and bills
• Write letters to elected officials with the right data points and framing
• Create public comment submissions for regulatory and judicial proceedings
• Generate email campaigns for your organization’s membership
• Prepare media pitches and press statements grounded in verified research
• Build fact sheets and one-pagers for coalition meetings and lobby days

Visit https://impactjustice.ai to get started. The research in this brief — and GPS’s broader body of work on Georgia prison conditions — is available to power your advocacy.

Key Takeaway: Impact Justice AI at https://impactjustice.ai can help advocates generate letters, testimony, public comments, and other materials using this research.

Key Statistics

Copy-paste these statistics into testimony, letters, fact sheets, and media materials. Each is sourced directly from the research brief.

Suicide and Self-Harm

• People in solitary confinement comprise approximately 6–8% of the total U.S. prison population but account for roughly 50% of all prison suicides. (Executive Summary, Section 1.3)
• People with mental illness in solitary are approximately 7 times more likely to self-harm than those in general population. (Section 1.3)

Georgia’s Special Management Unit

• 78% of people in Georgia’s SMU (141 of 182) had been held in isolation for more than 2 years (July 2017 data). (Section 5.1)
• 44% (80 people) had been held for more than 4 years. (Section 5.1)
• 26% (47 people) had been held for more than 5 years. (Section 5.1)
• 39% of people in the SMU had a diagnosed mental illness. (Section 5.1)
• Cells measured approximately 6 feet by 9 feet — roughly the size of a parking space. (Section 5.1)
• Timothy Gumm was held in the SMU for 7.5 years despite 14 separate recommendations over 4 years that he be transferred out. (Section 5.1)
• Johnny Mack Brown was held for 9 years. (Section 5.1)

Psychological Harm

• In Dr. Craig Haney’s research on people in solitary: 91% reported anxiety, 86% oversensitivity to stimuli, 83% social withdrawal, 77% chronic depression, 70% an impending nervous breakdown, and 68% heart palpitations. (Section 1.2)
• A 2025 meta-analysis of 171,300 people confirmed significantly greater psychological distress and psychiatric symptoms among those in solitary. (Section 1.2)

International Standards

• The UN Mandela Rules define prolonged solitary as exceeding 15 consecutive days and classify it as torture. (Section 2.2, 2.3)

Federal Court Findings

• A federal judge issued a 100-page contempt order in April 2024 finding GDC “flagrantly violated” the Gumm v. Jacobs settlement. (Section 5.2)
• The court imposed fines of $2,500 per day ($75,000 per month for 6 months). (Section 5.2)
• The 2019 settlement required a minimum of 3 hours of out-of-cell time plus 1 hour of outdoor recreation and a maximum of 24 months in the SMU. GDC denied these requirements systematically. (Section 5.2)

Staffing Crisis

• GDC has a staffing vacancy rate of approximately 50% systemwide and greater than 70% at the 10 largest facilities. (Section 5.4)
• The DOJ published a 93-page findings report on October 1, 2024, documenting unconstitutional conditions. (Section 5.4)

Racial Disparities

• Black individuals constituted 38% of the total federal BOP population but 59% of Special Management Unit placements. (Section 1.5)
• Black women comprised 42% of women in solitary but only 22% of the total female prison population. (Section 1.5)

National Context

• In 2019, 31,542 people were held in restrictive housing across 39 reporting states. Of these, 46% had been held for 3 months or less, but 11% (nearly 3,000 people) had been held for more than 3 years. (Section 3.1)
• In New York, despite a 15-day legal limit, 40% of individuals in solitary had been held longer than the law allows. (Section 3.3)
• Dennis Wayne Hope was held in continuous solitary for 27 years (1994–2021) in a 54-square-foot cell. The Supreme Court declined to hear his case. (Section 4.4)

Other Georgia Facilities

• At Smith State Prison, a person was held in a shower stall measuring 3.75 feet by 6.75 feet for nearly 3 days with no mattress, toilet, ventilation, heat, or water. He hanged himself. (Section 5.3)

Key Takeaway: Comprehensive, copy-paste-ready statistics organized by topic for immediate use in advocacy materials.

Read the Source Document

📄 Read the full Solitary Confinement & Restrictive Housing Investigative Research Brief (PDF)

The complete research brief includes detailed citations, case law analysis, expert assessments, and recommended follow-up actions. Download it, share it with your coalition, and use it to hold Georgia accountable.

Other Versions

This research is available in versions tailored for different audiences:

• 📋 Public Version — Accessible summary for community members, families, and the general public
• 🏛️ Legislator Version — Policy-focused briefing for elected officials and their staff
• 📰 Media Version — Backgrounder for journalists covering Georgia’s prison system

Each version draws from the same verified research. Share the version most relevant to your audience.