Solitary Confinement

Long-term solitary confinement is cruel, expensive and ineffective. Isolation creates and exacerbates symptoms of mental illness in prisoners, undermining successful re-entry into society and jeopardizing public safety. Meanwhile, states that have reduced their solitary populations have saved millions and seen violence plummet.

10/10/2012

Juvenile Detention

Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement

By Ian Kysel, Aryeh Neier Fellow, ACLU Human Rights Program at 11:23am

Kids are being kept in solitary confinement, often for days and weeks at a time, supposedly “for their own good” – to protect them from adult prisoners – or punish them for bad behavior. But long-term solitary confinement isn’t good for anyone. In fact, isolation can be psychologically shattering for anyone, and it is especially harmful to young people.

In a new report out today from the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, “Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons Across the United States,” I explore how the isolation of solitary confinement causes anguish, provokes serious mental and physical health problems, and works against rehabilitation for teenagers. The report is based on my own interviews and correspondence with more than 125 young people in 19 states who spent time in solitary confinement while under age 18, as well as with jail and/or prison officials in 10 states.

03/23/2013

Solitary Confinement

No Mother Should Share My Anguish: Join Me in Asking for a Ban on Youth Solitary for Those in Federal Care

By Vicky Gunderson, Activist at 1:47pm

As a mother, not being able to hug and comfort my son when he was alone in a concrete box is like the worst form of hell.

Knowing our son Kirk ended his own life while being held in solitary confinement, after he requested to not be left alone… I cannot describe that to you.

Kirk was only 17. It was two days after Christmas.

My son Kirk isn't an anomaly. Solitary confinement is a major factor in prison suicide. Since Kirk's death I've learned that kids as young as 13 are locked up in cells away from human contact for days or months at a time all across the country. It has a devastating impact on their development, especially for those with mental health problems.

03/21/2012

Solitary Confinement

Victory in Colorado: Closing Solitary Confinement Unit Good for Budget and Public Safety

By Denise Maes, ACLU of Colorado

The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) has announced that effective February 2013 it will close a wing of its Centennial Correctional Facility (known as "CSP II") that currently houses 316 high security/solitary confinement beds. This move will save Colorado taxpayers $4.5 million in fiscal year 2012-2013 and $13.6 million in fiscal year 2013-2014. This savings comes at the right time for Colorado.

03/14/2013

Solitary Violates Human Rights

New York Subjects Prisoners to Solitary as a Disciplinary Tool of First Resort

By Elena Landriscina, Legal Fellow, NYCLU at 1:52pm

On any given day in New York State, approximately 4,500 people are confined for 22 to 24 hours a day in solitary confinement...

03/12/2012

Solitary Confinement

Rethinking Solitary Confinement in Mississippi and Beyond

By Margaret Winter, National Prison Project at 11:12am

A Sunday New York Times article gives a critical and searching look at solitary confinement and a new model for prison reform in Mississippi.

04/03/2013

Juvenile Detention

New Pope Washes the Feet of 12 Kids in Prison: An Easter Reminder for the U.S.

By Ajmel Quereshi, Staff Counsel, ACLU at 10:34am

Last week, while Christians around the world were preparing to celebrate Easter, the newly elected Pope Francis visited Casal Del Marmo...

09/09/2011

Solitary Confinement

Attica 40 Years Later: Much Progress, But Much Still Left to Do

By Jennifer Wedekind, National Prison Project at 4:11pm

On September 9, 1971, in response to brutal living conditions and oppressive policies, prisoners rose up and took control of New York's Attica prison. The prisoners held more than 30 prison staff hostage, taking care to protect them from additional harm, while prisoner representatives sought to negotiate with state leaders. They protested the horrific conditions in which the prisoners were forced to live. They protested the lack of educational programs and basic medical care. And they demanded change.

06/27/2012

Solitary Confinement

Ending Solitary Confinement – The Dangers of Isolation for LGBTI Prisoners and Detainees

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:33pm

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee held a landmark hearing on solitary confinement. The goal of the hearing was to comprehensively examine and reassess the overuse of solitary confinement in federal and state correctional facilities and detention centers. Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the subcommittee, noted the hearing was about more than just solitary confinement, instead seeking to answer the question, “What do America’s prisons say about our nation and its values?”

05/29/2012

Overincarceration

It’s Time to Value Public Safety over Revenge

By Mike Tartaglia, Paralegal, National Prison Project & Andrew Waks, National Prison Project at 5:31pm

As America’s prison population has grown to unprecedented levels and imposed record-high costs on taxpayers, it is time to evaluate what we hope to achieve through incarceration: is it revenge, or safety? The two values appear to be in conflict as objectives of our criminal justice system. After decades of tough-on-crime policies, we have experienced little return on our investment— as rates of incarceration have continued to rise, rates of recidivism have increased since the early 1980s, remaining relatively unchanged from the mid-1990s through the present.

05/25/2012

Solitary Confinement