Samuel v. Wolfinger

Keeping children out of solitary confinement.

The ACLU of Idaho filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief supporting the Kootenai County Public Defender's office when Eldon Samuel, then 15 years old, had been held in solitary confinment in an adult jail for more than 70 days. The cell’s windows were covered with dark blinds, limiting Eldon's access to any natural light or viewing outside his cinderblock cell, and he was allowed out of his cell only for showers, exercise on a cement slab, and religious and attorney visits. Eldon's own guardian told the court that he was being held in conditions worse than the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Shortly after we filed our brief, the Kootenai County Public Defenders office reached a consent degree settlement agreement removing Eldon from solitary confinement and moving him to a juvenile detention center.