DENVER—A judge says a federal inmate who killed at least two other inmates and a correctional officer can proceed with a lawsuit challenging his placement in solitary confinement.

Thomas Silverstein has been in the federal prison system since 1978 following a conviction for an armed bank robbery. He has been held in various prisons but was transferred to the maximum-security prison in Florence known as Supermax in 2005.

U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer dismissed some claims in Silverstein's lawsuit, but he ruled Tuesday that Silverstein can proceed with a claim that he was placed indefinitely in solitary confinement without due process.

Silverstein is represented by a University of Denver law professor and her students.