BRIAN CHAVEZ WAS CONSIDERED a model inmate, a “trustee” granted special privileges for his good behavior during the first three years he was in jail. Then, last November, Chavez was moved with no explanation to the jail’s maximum security unit and placed in a 6-by-7-foot cell, where he was often locked up for 47 hours straight. Chavez is one of two plaintiffs — both inmates in Santa Clara County, California — named in a federal class-action lawsuit filed late last month by the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office against the Sheriff’s Office. (The Intercept covered the Prison Law Office’s investigation of the Santa Clara County jails in October.) The lawsuit argues that Santa Clara’s sheriff is locking up hundreds of inmates in small filthy jail cells and allowing them out for as few as three hours a week. Inmates held in isolation, the lawsuit argues, are subjected to conditions that “serve no penological purpose.” In addition to having very little out-of-cell time, inmates receive limited visiting time and are completely shackled whenever they leave their cells. They are regularly strip-searched — “sometimes up to six times a day,” the lawsuit alleges — and are denied access to “physical exercise, fresh air, sunlight, normal human contact, meaningful activity, and environmental stimulation.” Inmates in solitary confinement are barred from using any sort of cleaning tools in their cells — brooms, mops, sponges, rags, or towels — except for the inmate’s personal towel. Meanwhile, these units often house mentally ill inmates, who sometimes throw feces and urine or smear it around their cells.

“Plaintiffs,” the suit charges, “are forced to live in areas covered in dirt, hair, blood, feces, urine, food remnants, and vermin, including large cockroaches.”

Rarely are inmates given a clear reason for why they’ve been isolated, said Prison Law Office staff attorney Kelly Knapp. “They’ve been told various things by various officers,” she said, “including that they’re there for their charges, gang status, or some made-up or minor behavioral problem.” Jail policy requires that an inmate’s housing status be reviewed every 30 days to ensure it’s appropriate, and any inmate who feels he’s been unfairly housed can file a grievance. Both Chavez and Brandon Bracamonte, the other plaintiff named in the suit, have filed numerous grievances, the lawsuit says, but are repeatedly told they’re “properly housed.” Bracamonte, like Chavez, had also been granted jail “trustee” status for good behavior before he was moved to solitary confinement. Both men were indicted on gang charges in May 2013, 18 months before they were moved to isolation. Bracamonte was arrested in April 2012 for carjacking, and Chavez was arrested in November 2011 on narcotics charges. Bracamonte has since pleaded guilty to carjacking; both men have pleaded not guilty to the gang charges and are awaiting trial. A Santa Clara County sheriff’s spokesperson told The Intercept that the department appreciates the Prison Law Office’s input and takes its concerns seriously. The lawsuit follows the August beating death of a mentally ill inmate by three jail deputies and a San Jose Mercury News investigation that revealed deputies rarely investigate inmate complaints of excessive force. In November, the sheriff convened a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate jail operations. While there have been a number of legal challenges to the use of solitary confinement over the last few decades, this is the first to take on its use in jails. Other lawsuits have sought relief for state prisoners, who often spend decades in solitary confinement, or vulnerable populations, like juveniles or mentally ill inmates. Amy Fettig, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Prison Project, calls the Santa Clara lawsuit “groundbreaking.” “It represents the next wave of civil rights litigation challenging the practice of solitary confinement,” she said, spurred by a better understanding of the damaging effects of the practice. “Now we have international human rights standards,” Fettig said. “Anything beyond 15 days is considered prolonged isolation.”

A year in solitary confinement has taken its toll on the two men.