Incarcerated people held in solitary confinement in New York state won a class action lawsuit last week, with a judge ruling that corrections officials are using the practice as a means of discipline even though it’s banned under a 2021 law.

But civil liberties attorneys and criminal justice activists say enforcing rules on prison officials has always been difficult, so even this major legal victory may not end the practice.

The New York Civil Liberties Union "is watching closely, the Legislature is watching closely, we’re all watching closely to see if [the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] is complying with the law,” said Antony Gemmell, director of detention litigation at the NYCLU, which brought the case.

Critics of solitary confinement say the practice violates international humanitarian standards. Yet, restricting it has fallen short in state prisons and New York City jails, according to activists and attorneys.

“It’s almost impossible to hold anyone accountable for what seems and feels like an entire agency ignoring the law," said Sarena Townsend, who ran internal affairs at Rikers Island for the city Department of Correction.

The case in last week’s ruling involves three people who were placed in solitary confinement by the state corrections department in alleged violation of a law called the HALT Act. That law prohibits corrections officials from holding incarcerated people in solitary confinement, or “segregated confinement,” for more than three days without specific reasons and for more than 15 days under any circumstances. Under the HALT Act, people assigned to segregated confinement also must be let out of their cells for four hours a day.

Almost immediately after the law went into effect in 2022, data released by the state corrections department showed it was being violated, with 50 people held in solitary confinement for between one and three months.

One plaintiff, Fuquan Fields, who was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility, was sentenced to 120 days in segregated confinement after allegedly exposing himself, urinating on the floor, threatening a correction officer and throwing “wet looking sugar packets” at an officer, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys representing Fields argued that the behavior he was accused of didn’t constitute a risk of imminent serious injury to staff or other incarcerated people, and therefore didn’t meet the HALT Act's requirements for segregated confinement.

Albany County Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryant agreed, ruling that Fields was treated unlawfully. And, Bryant wrote, the state is not in compliance with the HALT Act overall. He ordered state officials to comply with it going forward.

Still, the judge didn’t impose fines or other penalties on prison officials or officers. So to ensure the ruling is followed, Gemmell from the NYCLU said the plaintiffs' attorneys will seek information in the coming months about who is being held in confinement and for how long. If it's evident that corrections officials continue to violate the HALT Act, Gemmell said the plaintiffs will ask the judge to impose sanctions — possibly financial — until the law is followed.

“There are people right now languishing in solitary in ways they should not be, in ways the law does not allow," he said. "We will be moving aggressively to make sure that DOCCS is complying with the court order."

A spokesperson for the state corrections department said on Friday that it is reviewing Bryant's decision, and added that DOCCS has changed its policies to comply with HALT, including by requiring more officials to review individuals' placement in segregated confinement.

Five Mualimm-ak, a criminal justice activist who spent more than five years in solitary confinement, said the judge's ruling helps push forward the campaign against the practice but won’t resolve the issue. He said fines against state corrections officials might be necessary.

“Monetary punishments are a part of the process to hold a state accountable," he said. "New York State will address practices if there’s a cost related to violating.”

Meanwhile, other efforts against solitary confinement are underway. Last month, the nonprofit Legal Aid Society sued the state, accusing it of holding people with mental and physical disabilities in segregated confinement in violation of the HALT Act.

The law was the culmination of more than a decade of activism against the practice, with advocates pointing to data and examples showing it can lead to permanent psychological damage and suicide.

In 2015, New York settled with the NYCLU in a different class action case on solitary confinement. As part of that settlement, the state corrections department pledged to remove 1,100 people from solitary confinement and set limits on the maximum number of days someone could be held there.

Similar efforts have been underway at Rikers Island in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams recently hired a law firm to petition a federal judge to suspend the City Council’s ban on solitary confinement in city jails. The Council had previously voted to override Adams’ veto of the ban.

This story has been updated to correct a quote by Antony Gemmell of the New York Civil Liberties Union.