Inmate Jay Leburd has brought suit in federal court challenging the conditions of his confinement in the Intensive Management Unit (IMU) of a maximum security state prison. Specifically, Leburd argues that the lack of any opportunity for outdoor exercise, total lack of reading materials, and absence of radio and television amount to “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Responding to the suit, the state prison system has conceded that the conditions in the IMU are “substantially as described by plaintiff.” Nevertheless, the state has asked the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that “the Eighth Amendment does not guarantee fresh air and sunshine to inmates in solitary confinement, nor does it require that they be entertained.”

What is the federal judge likely to do? What do you think the judge should do?