Ending Indefinite Solitary Confinement for the Vast Majority of People with Death Sentences in Oklahoma

The ACLU of Oklahoma, ACLU National Prison Project, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, and the Prison Law Office began our investigation into the conditions of confinement for the men on Oklahoma’s death row in 2018. At that time, all of Oklahoma’s male death row was housed on Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s H-Unit, a mounded-earth facility made up of windowless(1) concrete cages where men spent over 23 hours a day deprived of natural air, natural light, and virtually all human interaction.(2) Now, their lives look very different. Several people with death sentences have been moved from H to A-Unit. There, they get to experience authentic human connection, enjoying contact visits with family members. They can now feel the warmth of sunlight and a sense of community thanks to expanded outdoor group yard time. They can get jobs within the prison, which provide a sense of accomplishment and contribution to their community. And finally, they have the chance to find fellowship, meaning, and redemption through group religious services.

These improvements are the result of sustained advocacy by the ACLU of Oklahoma, our partners, and our clients on the inside who have never stopped fighting for more sensible and humane prison conditions. We also owe gratitude to the officials at the Department of Corrections, who have negotiated with us in good faith over the last six years. These improved conditions have been nothing short of transformative for the people with death sentences who have been moved to the A-Unit. These changes also serve as proof of what is possible when advocates and correctional officials work together to create safer, more compassionate prison policies.

Contact Visits
Living in Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s (OSP) H-Unit is an exceptionally isolating experience. Most of the people housed there are locked alone in their cells for 22-24 hours a day. The only human contact they might experience on any given day is through the “bean hole” on their cell doors, when they receive their food or are being shackled.(3) Their visits are non-contact, meaning they speak to their loved ones through plexiglass, using a phone to communicate. Many of these people yearn for authentic human connection, having gone years without hugging their loved ones or grasping their hands. The isolation they are experiencing is slowly destroying them.(4)

Now that most of the people have been moved to A-Unit, they can once again feel the touch of their family members. One man was able to hold his granddaughter for the first time. These contact visits are crucial to protecting the emotional well-being of incarcerated individuals. Being able to hug, hold hands, or just interact face-to-face with a loved one—especially after being deprived of the opportunity for so many years—reminds people who are incarcerated that they are not entirely alone in this world. According to one of the surveyed individuals,

"Having access to contact visits affects my life by directly having a positive impact on my mental health and self-worth. Being able to be hugged and hold the hands of one's family members and/or friends (contact) has the ability to make one feel like a ‘normal’ human being. I can only speak for myself, but contact visits compared to visits behind the glass are worlds apart and does more for my psychological well-being due to close encounters being such a rare thing for double-digit years before moving from H-unit to A where contact visits were allowed.”(5)

According to another,

"I have access to contact visits [and] it means everything to me [and] gives me reason to stay out of trouble [and] gives me something to look forward to. Had no contact visits with my fiancée from 2005 to 2018, so when we finally got them in Oct. 2019 it took away so much pain [and] stress [and] improved both our lives!!!"(6)

While we commend the officials at the Department of Corrections (DOC) for allowing so many people to once again experience authentic human connection with their loved ones, two small additional changes to OSP’s visitation policy would have a significant impact on their daily lives. First, to the extent that OSP applies the ‘pilot program’ designation to contact visits for people with death sentences living in A-Unit, we seek removal of any such designation to ensure this is a permanent change. Second, we seek clarification that the DOC policy providing for contact visits applies system-wide to include those people living in H-Unit. As the policy is currently implemented, people living in H-Unit, whose behavior/earned credit levels(7) would otherwise allow them contact visits, are being denied these visits simply by virtue of living in the H-Unit. There is no legitimate, security-based reason for this denial. According to one person still in H-Unit, getting contact visits would “greatly improve [his] mental health and to be able to hug family and friends would help to heal that divide that [he] feels from [his] loved ones.”(8)

Group Religious Services
In 2009, OSP ended group religious services for people living in H-Unit, in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”). By refusing these men the chance to commune with one another in faith, DOC officials substantially burdened their sincerely held religious beliefs. Barring these individuals from group religious services also has the practical effect of denying them the social connection and support they so desperately desire. According to one of our surveyed individuals, “For those who are of faith and believers being able to congregate in order to hear, discuss, and contemplate has the potential to affect their lives profoundly. It can be the difference between persevering and giving up.”(9) Another person echoed this sentiment: “[g]oing to church with other guys . . . [a]llows us to interact and learn about our faith in a way that we just cannot get when they are only allowed to speak to us one at a time thru [sic] a cell door.”(10) The group religious services in H-Unit used to fill the halls with music, as many of the religious volunteers brought guitars and other instruments to include in their worship. Now the halls of H-Unit are filled only with the clanging of cell doors.

In A-Unit, however, people with death sentences now enjoy group religious services. This is an enormous victory for these people’s religious liberty rights, as they are no longer denied the right to worship together as required by their sincerely held religious beliefs. It has also strengthened the resolve of many people incarcerated at the OSP. According to one surveyed individual, “It's a blessing to have the fellowship.”(11)

We applaud the officials at the DOC for acknowledging and respecting the sincerely held religious beliefs of the people who live at the OSP. But again, there is still work to be done. First, to the extent that OSP applies the ‘pilot program’ designation to expanded group religious services, we seek to have it removed to ensure these changes are permanent. Second, the people who remain in H-Unit do not have the opportunity to reap the spiritual and social rewards associated with group religious services. This not only violates their rights under RLUIPA; it also exacerbates the psychological harm they already experience because of their sustained isolation. We implore DOC officials to ensure that access to group religious services is provided system-wide, including to people living in H-Unit. So long as the people living in H-Unit have the same behavior/earned credit levels as those residing in A-Unit, they should be permitted to commune with others in faith.

Employment Opportunities
Part of what makes life in H-Unit so torturous is the utter lack of stimulation and sense of purpose. Each day is the same as the last, with people spending virtually every waking hour in their eight-by-sixteen-foot cell. While people living there have access to tablets and television, there is little human interaction and no tasks to complete or goals to work toward. Put simply, the drudgery is maddening. People living in H-Unit are made to sit there and await their death. According to one person, “I’m already in my tomb, only I’m not dead yet.”(12)

Moving to A-Unit means several people with death sentences now have increased employment opportunities. In addition to helping them develop practical skillsets and earn money to support themselves, having a job gives these people a sense of fulfillment. One person relayed that his job “makes [him] feel more useful and human.”(13) Yet another explained that having a job “gives you purpose in the day to day of life here. A reason to stay outta trouble.”(14) Working breaks up the monotony of life inside the OSP, giving the men a reason to keep going and incentivizing continued self-improvement.

We thank the officials at the DOC for expanding employment opportunities for people living at the OSP. Working a job has given many people the chance to help support themselves while also having something to look forward to. But again, we would be remiss if we did not emphasize that we would like to see confirmation that these expanded employment opportunities are not part of any ‘pilot program,’ but are instead permanent changes. Moreover, most people living in H-Unit are still being arbitrarily denied these jobs despite sharing the same behavior/earned credit levels as those who now reside in A-Unit.(15) We hope that the DOC takes the next logical step in its program development, ensuring that all people incarcerated at the OSP have the same employment opportunities.

Outdoor Group Time
Living in H-Unit has been likened to being “buried alive” beneath several feet of concrete.(16) For people housed there, their only chance at ever glimpsing sunlight is through the narrow skylight in their “yard” during recreational time. To even call it a “yard” seems a bit gratuitous; in reality, it is a roughly eighteen-by-twenty-five-foot concrete enclosure with twenty-five-to-thirty-foot cement walls. Some people in H-Unit have gone years without hearing the singing of birds or the rustling of leaves, feeling the warmth of sunlight on their bodies, or observing the changes of the seasons in the trees.

People in A-Unit, by contrast, have access to natural light and a view of the outdoors. They also now get outside group yard time, which has been revitalizing. According to one man, outside group yard time allows him to “move freely [and] exercise by working out [and] playing basketball. Since I've been on group yard I've lost about 60 [pounds] or more [and] my feet have mostly stopped hurting from side effects of [my] diabetes.”(17) Another expressed that outdoor group yard time was “Great, [it is] nice to visit the other guys a little here.”(18) One of the surveyed individuals, who has unfortunately since been moved back to H-Unit, expressed that “[b]eing able to talk to guys without a fence or cell door between you gives us a connection and mental freedom that we don't usually have. I've experienced it for over a year until I was returned to H-unit. The contrast is humbling to say the least.”(19)

Once again, we thank the officials at the DOC for granting many of the people housed at the OSP access to sunlight, fresh air, and outdoor group yard time. Being able to absorb natural sunlight for the first time in years has lifted their spirits, and they have developed camaraderie by spending time outside with other people in OSP custody. Therefore, we encourage DOC officials to formalize these changes by removing any ‘pilot program’ designation, signaling their continued commitment to more reasonable prison policies. And we urge the DOC to provide people living in H-Unit with the same chance to breathe fresh air and to feel the warmth of the sun on their skin.

H-Unit
As we celebrate the significant improvements in the conditions of confinement for people with death sentences in A-Unit, we also recognize that a stark difference remains between the quality of life for people living in A-Unit and those left in H-Unit. People housed in H-Unit do not benefit from any of the DOC’s improvements that have been implemented over the past six years. They are denied contact visits, group religious services, employment opportunities, and outdoor group yard time. The differential treatment is entirely arbitrary; several individuals still in H-Unit have virtually spotless disciplinary records, and they share the same behavior/earned credit levels as those in A-Unit who have access to the programs. There is no rational justification for denying them these experiences.

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We are proud of all that we have accomplished alongside the Department of Connections in improving the conditions of confinement for people with death sentences at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. We are grateful to our partners and to all people incarcerated at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary who have taken the time to collaborate with us over the years. These victories have significantly improved the lives of all people with death sentences in A-Unit, functionally ending their indefinite solitary confinement. We urge the Department of Corrections officials to formalize this expanded programming and to afford the people housed in H-Unit the same privileges as those in A-Unit, so that all people in their custody may know the dignity of embracing a loved one, the warmth of the sun, and of worshiping in fellowship with one another.

1. While the cell doors in H-Unit do have small windows, these windows face the hallway, not outside. As will be further elucidated below, individuals housed in H-Unit rarely, if ever, get to see the outdoors.
2. For additional, detailed descriptions of the living conditions in H-Unit, see Conditions for Death Row Prisoners in H-Unit, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, USA, AMNESTY INT’L, (Apr. 30, 1994), https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/amr510341994en.pdf; Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, THE APPEAL (Sep. 25, 2019), https://theappeal.org/oklahomas-death-row-prisoners-are-forced-into-permanent-solitary-confinement-they-are-literally-buried-alive-advocates-say/; Dylan Goforth, Despite Move to New Calls, Struggle Over Solitary Confinement for Death Row Prisoners Continues, THE FRONTIER (Nov. 26, 2019), https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/despite-move-to-new-cells-struggle-over-solitary-confinement-for-death-row-prisoners-continues/; Tour of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, THE OKLAHOMAN (Dec. 9, 2011), https://www.oklahoman.com/picture-gallery/news/crime/2011/12/09/tour-of-the-oklahoma-state-penitentiary-in-mcalester/9116863007/.
3. “Shackling” is the process whereby a person who is incarcerated is placed in full restraints. Their wrists are bound in handcuffs, and the handcuffs are attached to their belly chain. The belly chain is, in turn, connected to shackles placed around their legs.
4. For more information on the deleterious health consequences caused by solitary confinement, see Jessica Sandoval, How Solitary Confinement Contributes to the Mental Health Crisis, NAT’L ALL. ON MENTAL HEALTH (Mar. 17, 2023), https://www.nami.org/advocate/how-solitary-confinement-contributes-to-the-mental-health-crisis/; Tiana Herring, The Research is Clear: Solitary Confinement Causes Long-Lasting Harm, PRISON POL’Y INST. (Dec. 8, 2020), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/12/08/solitary_symposium/; Kayla James & Elena Vanko, Evidence Brief: The Impact of Solitary Confinement, VERA INST. (Apr. 2021), https://vera-institute.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/publications/the-impacts-of-solitary-confinement.pdf?dm=1617381199.
5. Conditions Survey Response from Kendrick Simpson (2024). Although Mr. Simpson was temporarily moved to A-Unit (during which time he enjoyed these privileges), he has since been moved back to H-Unit for administrative purposes. Because he is back in the H-Unit, he can no longer access this programming even though he shares the same behavior/earned credit level as several of the individuals who currently experience these opportunities. The State of Oklahoma has recently requested that Mr. Simpson’s execution date be set for February 12, 2026. This means that, for Mr. Simpson, time is of the essence, because he’d like to be able to hug and hold his grandchild at least once before he is executed.
6. Conditions Survey Response from Clarance Goode (2024).
7. We recognize that some individuals housed in the H-Unit are there for disciplinary reasons. In advocating for OSP to provide contact visits, group religious services, employment opportunities, and outdoor group yard time to the people living in H-Unit, our request is focused on those individuals with death sentences whose behavior/earned credit levels already qualify them but who are not currently experiencing these opportunities.
8. Conditions Survey Response from Alfred Mitchell (2024). Much like Mr. Simpson, Mr. Mitchell was temporarily living in A-Unit—where he could access these privileges—before being moved back to the H-Unit. He shares the same behavior/earned credit level as several of the individuals who currently experience these opportunities.
9. Conditions Survey Response from Kendrick Simpson (2024).
10. Conditions Survey Response from Alfred Mitchell (2024).
11. Conditions Survey Response from Raymond E. Johnson (2024).
12. Anonymous, A Sneak Peak Inside the Infamous Oklahoma State Penitentiary, H-Unit (Spring 2019).
13. Conditions Survey Response from Jim Pavatt (2024).
14. Conditions Survey Response from Alfred Mitchell (2024).
15. While there are individual exceptions of some people with jobs in H-Unit, the people living there are by and large denied access to these opportunities.
16. Weill-Greenberg, supra note 2.
17. Conditions Survey Response from Clarance Goode (2024).
18. Conditions Survey Response from Byron James Shepard (2024) (emphasis in original).
19. Conditions Survey Response from Alfred Mitchell (2024).