\u201cTo be sure, this level of restriction and isolation is outside the norms of even the most restrictive solitary confinement units I have seen in other systems,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Stewart described 5C as \u201cfilled with people with serious mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Diego County Sheriff\u2019s Office says the enclosure, installed in 2014, offers a secure way to deliver out-of-cell time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dayroom enclosure you refer to as a metal cage is a secure space designed to provide incarcerated persons assigned to administrative separation with structured out-of-cell time in a way that prioritizes both their well-being and facility safety,\u201d a spokesperson told The San Diego Union-Tribune in January in an emailed response to questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis enclosure allows individuals to access essential resources, including a shower and telephone, while also enabling them to remain in the dayroom area rather than returning to their cells each time staff conduct necessary duties, such as medication distribution, safety checks, meal distribution and the escorting of other individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson did not respond to recent questions about whether a specific incident or trend led to the use of the enclosure.<\/p>\n
But critics say the enclosure \u2014 and the broader system of isolation \u2014 constitutes a form of solitary confinement that exacerbates mental illness and makes the jail less safe overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like nothing I\u2019ve ever seen in any prison or jail,\u201d said Aaron Fischer, an attorney representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit, known as the Dunsmore case, who toured the unit with Stewart in February 2024.<\/p>\n
Even time in the jail\u2019s outdoor recreation yard involves being locked in a metal cage \u2014 an environment one man described to Stewart as worse than \u201ceven the most restrictive settings in the California state prison system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of restriction and isolation is so severe,\u201d Stewart wrote of 5C, \u201cthat it undermines the provision of any meaningful mental health treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/George-Bailey-jail-rec-yard.png\")
The only way a person can be in the outdoor rec yard at the George Bailey Detention Facility is if they\u2019re locked in a metal enclosure. (Courtesy Aaron Fischer)<\/p>\n
The men Stewart spoke to said they rarely left their cells. Some hadn\u2019t showered in weeks. One man, held there for three weeks, told him he didn\u2019t even know there was a recreation yard.<\/p>\n
The Union-Tribune sent photos of the enclosure to several experts in correctional mental health care and jail oversight. None had seen such a thing used in a dayroom.<\/p>\n
Sheren Barboza, a psychologist with more than two dozen years of experience working in correctional settings, described administrative separation as \u201cawful,\u201d but said she understood the utility of the dayroom enclosure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that enclosure might allow them to have some sort of dayroom and still be able to move other folks as needed because there\u2019s that sort of cage to protect them,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t love it, but I can understand the use of it, because it really does allow them sort of to do two things at once, which they sometimes can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clinician Aseel Ross, who worked in 5C from January 2022 until September 2023, testified during a deposition in the Dunsmore lawsuit that many people placed in administrative separation didn\u2019t need to be there from a clinical perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were in ad-sep because they are a danger to the general population or a serious incident happened,\u201d Ross testified. \u201cThat is a result, unfortunately, sometimes from their mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross saw firsthand how prolonged isolation impacted her patients. Most mental health interactions, she said, occurred cell-side and were limited to \u201cquick things,\u201d like checking on sleep or mood.<\/p>\n
She said she proposed a treatment program that would phase people out of segregation through structured group activities, like art and music therapy and classes in coping skills.<\/p>\n
The idea had support from some jail officials, she said, but mental health leadership never approved it. In his report, Stewart described Ross\u2019 proposal as a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n
Experts say that similar programs have shown success elsewhere in California.<\/p>\n
In Kern County, for example, nearly 300 people were once housed in administrative separation \u2014 roughly 20% of the jail population. Today, that number is fewer than 10. Officials accomplished this by re-evaluating risk, putting strict limits on how long a person can be held in isolation and expanding behavioral health programs.<\/p>\n
Other counties, including Sacramento and San Mateo, have seen similar successes by offering people who\u2019d otherwise be in isolation daily therapy, group sessions and more out-of-cell time. The result, officials and experts say, is less violence and better outcomes.<\/p>\n
![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SUT-L-FIVE-YEARS-LATER-settles.jpg\")
Matthew Settles\u2019 family says that despite his history of suicide attempts and need for intensive psychiatric care, jail staff placed him in isolation and failed to ensure he took his prescribed medications. He died in custody in 2022. (Settles family)<\/p>\n