Leonard Greene is reporting for the Daily News a federal judge has blocked the Hudson Correctional Facility from holding a mentally ill minor for indefinite periods of time in solitary confinement, saying the 17-year-old has suffered "irreparable harm." U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes issued a groundbreaking injunction earlier this month, citing the youth's severe isolation as a major factor in his deteriorating mental health. The Rockland County teen was subjected to long periods of deprivation at the Hudson facility, where his access to water, showers, food and social interaction was severely restricted. The conditions in the Adolescent Offender Segregation Unit in Hudson were so bad the youth reacted with self-mutilating behavior. He was held alone in an 8 1/2- by 10-foot cell for seven months, and allowed out for only four hours a day on weekdays and two hours on the weekends. The youth spent his recreation time alone in a cage. The worst period lasted for 10 days, when he was locked up in the cell for 24 hours straight with no relief. In the arguments made to the court, Donna Lewin, Hudson’s superintendent, denied the segregation unit amounted to solitary confinement. The boy’s mother said she was encouraged by the ruling until she learned that the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision returned her son to general population at the Adirondack Correctional Facility in Essex County, a location three times the distance from home as Hudson. She is convinced the move was made in retaliation. A DOCCS spokesman said the teen was transferred from Hudson to the Adirondack facility for his own safety and for the safety of other offenders and staffers. Read the full story in the Daily News.