We’ve got an update on the Texas inmate who was thrown in solitary confinement after her daughter raised money to help a sick cat (yes, really): She’s finally back in regular housing.
Texas prison officials confirmed that Sonya Reed, 53, is no longer in administrative segregation, which is a nice way to say “solitary confinement.”
“She has returned to normal housing,” Amanda Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told The Barbed Wire Wednesday.
Hernandez declined to provide additional details about the case, citing confidentiality rules.
“Inmate disciplinary information is confidential and cannot be disclosed,” she said.
Reed, who is incarcerated at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, had been placed in administrative segregation during an internal investigation into a GoFundMe created by her daughter last month to pay for veterinary care for a stray cat cared for by incarcerated women at the prison.
Reed’s placement in solitary confinement drew attention after The Barbed Wire reported last week that she had been moved into administrative segregation.
The fundraiser, which raised nearly $11,000, was intended to pay for veterinary care for Orange Julius, a cat cared for by incarcerated women, who often use their own commissary funds to care for abandoned cats in the area, according to Reed’s daughter.
TDCJ officials said last week that Reed was moved during an internal investigation into possible solicitation, which Hernandez said is prohibited under prison policy.
Officials have said inmates are commonly moved during investigations.
Reed’s daughter, Kitti Reed, has said her mother was questioned about the fundraiser, told she was not in trouble, and then placed in isolation the following day.
The move alarmed her family, who raised concerns about Reed’s medical conditions and the impact of solitary confinement on her physical and mental health.
And, honestly, they’re right to be alarmed. Because lots of human rights groups consider solitary confinement to be torture.
The Prison Policy Initiative warns that solitary confinement increases the risk of premature death after release. Those exposed to solitary were more likely to die from suicide, homicide, or opioid overdose, the nonpartisan research group has found.
“Prisons and jails are already inherently harmful, and placing people in solitary confinement adds an extra burden of stress that has been shown to cause permanent changes to people’s brains and personalities,” research associate Tiana Herring wrote for the group in 2020.
And a United Nations human rights expert warned that U.S. prisons routinely overuse solitary confinement, saying practices like prolonged isolation, restraints, and intrusive searches may amount to psychological torture under international law.
“The severe and often irreparable psychological and physical consequences of solitary confinement and social exclusion are well documented and can range from progressively severe forms of anxiety, stress, and depression to cognitive impairment and suicidal tendencies,” said Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on torture.
“This deliberate infliction of severe mental pain or suffering may well amount to psychological torture,” he added.
Which seems a bit overkill in the worst of cases, but solitary definitely doesn’t seem warranted because your daughter raised money to help a sick cat.
Kitti Reed could not be reached for comment Wednesday.