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Abstract: 

Derrick Hall was convicted of first degree murder in Pennsylvania and sentenced to death in 1994. Hall, now age 47, has been housed continuously on Graterford Prison’s Capital Care/Restricted Housing Unit (CCU/RHU). Hall’s death sentence was vacated in 2014, but despite Hall’s repeated entreaties and requests, he has not been removed from penal isolation in the CCU/RHU. Are the conditions sufficiently harsh that once the rationale for their imposition is gone, the right to such restraint is gone? In Hall v. Wetzel, 2018 WL 1035780 (E.D.Pa.), Judge Joyner answered yes to that question and after the earlier decision in Williams v. Secretary, Pa. DOC, 848 F.3d 549 (3d Cir. 2017), issued a preliminary injunction to be followed by a hearing and review of his placement in solitary confinement.

Keywords: Solitary Confinement for Capital Offenses; Hall v. Wetzel, 2018 WL 1035780

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.