This article is an excerpt from Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement by Christopher Blackwell and Deborah Zalesne, Copyright © 2025. This text was originally published by Pluto Press and has been reprinted here with permission.

When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana almost two decades ago, guards in a New Orleans jail panicked. With no guidance from management or the state and a rapidly worsening storm building around them, they abandoned hundreds of incarcerated people in their cells while floodwaters rose, forcing them to drink the putrid water that seeped into their cells. Back then, it was an exception. Now, such scenarios are happening with increased frequency around the country.

Climate experts predict that climate change will continue to cause larger, more frequ

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