The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away an Eighth Amendment appeal from an Illinois prisoner who faced nearly three years of solitary confinement with no prison yard access, prompting a dissent from the liberal justices over such “unusually severe” conditions.

The court denied an appeal to revive prisoner Michael Johnson’s constitutional claims that prison officials at Illinois’ Pontiac Correctional Center violated his protection against “cruel and unusual punishment” by taking away his exercise yard access for nearly three years while he was in solitary confinement.