U.S. Supreme Court turns away suit by Texas inmate held 27 years in solitary confinement

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a Texas robbery offender who claimed that prison officials’ 27 years of solitary confinement violated the constitutional ban on “cruel and unusual.”

Dennis Hope’s appeal of a lower court’s judgment that his lengthy solitary confinement violated the Eighth Amendment was rejected by the justices.

In 2018, Hope, who is still in jail but no longer in solitary confinement, sued prison officials for civil rights violations.

Aggravated robbery with a dangerous weapon was his 1990 conviction. Solitary imprisonment followed Hope’s 1994 jail breakout. Hope stated in court papers that she spent 22 to 24 hours a day in a cell 9 feet length and 6 feet broad (2.7 meters by 1.8 meters), “no larger than a parking space.” Despite Texas security officials declaring him no longer an escape risk in 2005, Hope said he was kept in solitary.

According to his lawsuit, he was denied therapy and suffered from anxiety, sadness, hallucinations, and thoughts of suicide.

According to the Eighth Amendment, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

A Texas federal judge dismissed Hope’s complaint in 2020, saying that his allegations did not “rise to the level of a violation of the Eighth Amendment,” and the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in 2021.

The 5th Circuit found that “long-term solitary confinement is not per se cruel and unusual,” noting Supreme Court precedent that “the length of isolation sentences was not considered in a vacuum.”

Hope appealed to the Supreme Court in 2022 to resolve a conflict among federal appellate courts over whether solitary confinement is cruel and unusual punishment.

A week following Hope’s filing, Texas officials began a process that ended in June with Hope’s release from solitary confinement. After failing to settle, Hope and Texas officials asked the Supreme Court to reconsider Hope’s appeal in March.

Hope’s lawyers opposed Texas’ move to declare the matter moot because Hope is no longer in solitary confinement.