Oregon’s 90-Day Solitary Limit: BLM Protester’s 250-Day Confinement Sparks Debate
Malik Muhammad, a disabled veteran with PTSD, received a ten-year sentence—the harshest for any 2020 protest-related case—after pleading guilty to multiple felonies involving participation in protests and a Molotov cocktail incident. Despite Oregon’s 90-day solitary confinement limit, he has spent over 250 days in solitary, with his attorney arguing that the prison circumvents the limit by transferring him between units while keeping him in the same cell. This prolonged solitary confinement, following an incident where guards tased and beat him, exacerbates his PTSD and is considered by his legal team to be a form of torture. His recent hunger strike, protesting these conditions, ended after prison officials made some progress towards moving him to the general population.
John Q. Hosedrinker