ACLU and Partners Applaud the End of Indefinite Solitary Confinement at Oklahoma State Penitentiary

The H-Unit is an underground bunker at the maximum-security prison facility. Previously, people sentenced to death were incarcerated indefinitely in solitary confinement and restricted to their concrete tombs, for 22 to 24 hours per day, with no outside exposure or human contact.

In the demand letter, three claims of unconstitutional policies and practices were outlined: the use of solitary confinement, the automatic transfer of anyone sentenced to death to the maximum-security H-unit facility, and the prison’s policy barring congregate religious worship services for people on death row.

After years of working collaboratively with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, we are proud to announce the end of indefinite solitary confinement for the vast majority of people incarcerated with death sentences in Oklahoma.
Since our initial letter to the Department of Corrections, several people with death sentences have been moved from H to A-Unit. On A-unit, people incarcerated get to receive contact visits with family members, have outdoor group yard time, obtain jobs within the prison, and have the chance to participate in group religious services.

“These improvements in conditions mark the end of indefinite solitary confinement for the vast majority of people with death sentences in Oklahoma and have vastly improved their quality of life,” said Megan Lambert, ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director. “Many of these men have been able to touch grass and feel the warmth of the sun for the first time in ten years. One man was able to hold his grandchild for the first time.”

“We are pleased that Oklahoma has ended the practice of automatically confining all people with death sentences to solitary confinement, regardless of their behavior or risk to others,” said Corene Kendrick, Deputy Director of the ACLU National Prison Project. “In recent years, states across the country, including Arizona, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have ended similar practices. Research has shown that condemned persons often are among the most well-behaved people in correctional settings.”

With this progress, we also recognize there are still people left on H-Unit whose constitutional rights and basic human dignity continue to be violated. The ACLU and its partners urge the Department of Corrections to continue the progress it has made in respecting the rights of Oklahomans in its custody.

Read more about the improved conditions of confinement for people with death sentences at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in our recent blog here.