THREAD: in the fall, the team litigating a statewide challenge to the use of solitary confinement in florida prisons began conducting prison inspections. i led two of these inspections, at FSP and Santa Rosa, notoriously the most brutal prisons in the state.

i didn’t see anything that countless people hadn’t already described to me. but it was still so much worse than i could have ever imagined. layer upon layer of abuse. i left feeling, among other things, remarkably broken and hopeless.

even in front of the legal team, the COs acted with impunity. they threatened, harassed, and retaliated against incarcerated folks who spoke with our team. so we went to court.

last month, some of the bravest people i know testified in federal court about abuse they had experienced for participating in the case. they courageously named the officers who mistreated them, knowing that these very officers controlled every aspect of their lives.

they withstood cross examination by lawyers who characterized them as liars and manipulators. they told their stories to stand up for themselves, but also for the thousands of others in solitary confinement across the state.

yesterday, the federal court vindicated them. it recognized that the people brave enough to speak out in the face of such abuse were “the toughest or most stubborn among us.”

remarkably, the court also repeatedly found that the officers who testified—including high-ranking officers—were liars (or, in legal jargon, “not credible”).

revolutions do not happen in the courtroom, and the courts will never liberate us. but this is a significant victory that speaks to the strength of people suffering unimaginable torture at the hands of the State. they are worth celebrating. /fin