Can solitary confinement be considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment?

Wilkinson v. Skinner, supra, is not to be read to the contrary, as the court easily dismissed any notion that the conditions of confinement there (in solitary confinement) could be considered so "barbarous" or "shocking to the conscience" as to fall within the aegis of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution proscribing cruel and unusual punishment [id., 34 N.Y.2d at 60, 356 N.Y.S.2d 15, 312 N.E.2d 158]. Reading the instant claims with the strongest possible inferences in the claimants' favor, I find that they fall woefully short of such actionable conditions of confinement. ⁵