American Civil Liberties Union

A diverse range of lawyers, judges, faith community leaders, scholars, journalists, prisoner rights advocates and law enforcement professionals have called for limitations on the use of solitary confinement, and proposed safer, more humane, cost-effective alternatives. Below are links to more of the broad array of resources now available on this topic.

Websites

• Human Rights Coalition - www.HRcoalition.org
• Solitary Confinement - www.SolitaryConfinement.org
• Solitary Watch - www.SolitaryWatch.com
• Supermaxed - www.Supermaxed.com
• AFSC - www.afsc.org/category/topic/stopmax-campaign
• National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) - www.nrcat.org
• Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress
• Vera Institute of Justice, Segregation Reduction Project

Standards & Resolutions

• NRCAT Statement on Ending Prolonged Solitary Confinement in all 50 States
• ABA Criminal Justice Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners, approved by the ABA House of Delegates (Feb. 2010)
• Standards for mental health services in correctional facilities (2008), National Commission on Correctional Health (NCCHC)
• Position Statement 24: Seclusion and Restraints(Nov. 2010), Mental Health America (MHA)
• Resolution Regarding Extended Solitary Confinement and Torture, adopted Nov. 2010 by the Legislative Assembly, National Communication Association (NCA).

Articles

• Kathryn DeMarco, “Disabled by Solitude: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Its Impact on the Use of Supermax Solitary Confinement,” University of Miami Law Review, Vol.66:523, Dec. 16, 2011.
• Mississippi DOC Deputy Commissioner on Reducing the Use of Segregation in Prisons (2011)
• Tortured by Solitude (11-5-2011), The New York Times
• Solitary confinement should be a last resort (8-21-2011), The Washington Post
• Smart on Crime Coalition Declares Isolated Confinement Is Overused and Harmful (2-10-2011)
• Hellhole: The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? (3-30-09), The New Yorker
• A Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement (2008), Sharon Shalev, Mannheim Centre for Criminology
• Confronting Confinement (2006), The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons
• Benefit-Cost Analysis of Supermax Prisons: Critical Steps and Considerations (2004), S.Lawrence & D.P. Mears, Urban Institute: Policy Brief
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Confinement (2006), Daniel P. Mears, Urban Institute
• Ill-Equipped: US Prisoners and Offenders with Mental Illness (2003), New York: Human Rights Watch
• Cold Storage: Super-Maximum Security Confinement in Indiana (1997), Human Rights Watch
• Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo (2008), Human Rights Watch
• Out of Sight: Super-Maximum Security Confinement in the United States (2000), Human Rights Watch
• Pathological Effects of the Supermaximum Prison (2005), Lorna Rhodes. A.J. Public Health, vol. 95, no. 10
• Supermax Prisons Myths, Realities, and the Politics of Punishment in American Society (2006) J.M. Pizarro, et al, Criminal Justice Policy Review,Vol. 17/no. 1, p. 6-21
• Supermax Prisons: Overview and General Considerations (1999), Chase Riveland, U.S. Dept. of Justice, National Institute of Corrections
• The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison Inmates: A brief history and review of the literature (2006), P.S. Smith, Crim Just 34:441–568
• The Cost of Long-Term Isolation: A Need for Accountability and Policy Safeguards in Supermax Prisons Across the United States (2009), Aaron Ceresnie, Adler School of Professional Psychology
• The Psychological Effects of Supermax Prisons (2006), InsidePrison.com
• Wardens' Views on the Wisdom of Supermax Prisons (2006), D. Nears & J. Castro, Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 52/no. 3, p. 398-431

Videos, Films & Broadcasts

• Cruel and Inhuman (2009) [5 mins.]
• Enduring Solitary Confinement. See what it's like to be locked away in solitary confinement (04/09/2010), ABC News
• Explorer: Solitary Confinement, National Geographic
• In the Land of the Free (documentary film re the “Angola 3” in Louisiana)
• Solitary confinement abuse in U.S. prisons, AFSC
• NPR podcast on solitary confinement survivors