San Diego high school students are stepping directly into one of the county's toughest debates, handing a 19-page policy proposal to local officials that calls for an end to prolonged solitary confinement in county jails. The youth-led group says it has walked jail corridors, listened to people held in isolation, and found that being locked alone for long stretches is far from rare. Their effort now sits squarely in front of county leadership and adds fresh public pressure to long-running legal battles over mental health care behind bars.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the students, who organize under the name Youth to End Solitary SD, or Yes SD, submitted their 19-page proposal to the Sheriff’s Office after touring two county jail facilities. The outlet reports the group plans to meet with Sheriff Kelly Martinez and is scheduled to visit Men’s Central Jail on July 16. Members have already sat down with County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins. A sheriff’s spokesperson told the newspaper that the department is reviewing the proposal and that no new policy on administrative separation has been adopted so far.
What Students Are Asking For
The campaign, which lists Nikhil Plettner Booker as founder and executive director, is pushing for an end to prolonged isolation and for stronger safeguards for people with mental health needs, according to Youth to End Solitary SD. Booker told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the group wants a fundamental restructuring of how the county handles people in custody who are considered a threat to themselves or to vulnerable others. The material the students submitted includes sworn declarations from more than a dozen people who say they were regularly kept alone for about 23 hours a day.
Sheriff's Office Response
Sheriff Kelly Martinez heads the agency that operates the county jail system, and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office states that it will review outside proposals that come in from the public. The department has already been under a brighter spotlight from oversight bodies and the courts, as officials and judges press for improvements in mental health care inside the jails. For now, though, the sheriff’s office has not tied any immediate changes to the students’ 19-page plan.
Legal Context
The youth campaign arrives while San Diego is rolling out a court-related settlement that requires systemwide changes to mental health services and monitoring in county jails. Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld, which represents plaintiffs in the broader case, outlines the settlement terms and notes that a Fairness and Final Approval hearing is set for July 16, 2026. That schedule gives both advocates and county leaders a relatively tight window to align new policy ideas with court-enforced reforms that the Board of Supervisors is already weighing.
What's Next
Yes, SD says it plans to keep up meetings, facility tours, and public education events, and it is sharing updates and volunteer sign-ups on its website. Officials, lawyers, and advocates are likely to watch the July 16 court calendar, along with any formal response from the Sheriff’s Office, to see whether the students’ recommendations make the jump from proposal to policy. Whatever happens next, the effort has pulled solitary confinement out of the fine print and into the center of San Diego’s local conversation about its jails.
