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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:51 pm
Time: 10:51 pm
Results for solitary confinement (u.s.)
3 results foundAuthor: Fugio, Christy Title: Buried Alive: Solitary Confinement in the US Detention System Summary: Solitary confinement is a generic term used to describe a form of segregation or isolation in which people are held in total or near-total isolation. People in solitary confinement are generally held in small cells for 23 hours a day and rarely have contact with other people. Solitary confinement has historically been used to control and discipline detainees in a variety of settings, including federal and state prisons, local jails, and immigration and national security detention facilities. Unlike incarcerated prisoners, immigration and national security detainees are held not as punishment for a crime but as a preventive measure. Indeed, it is unlikely that these detainees will ever be charged with a crime. For these people, solitary confinement then becomes entirely punitive, with dire consequences for their mental and physical health. For these people, solitary confinement then becomes entirely punitive, with dire consequences for their mental and physical health. Immigration and national security detainees are particularly likely to be held in isolation for prolonged periods because their precarious legal status makes them less able to challenge their conditions of confinement, including placement in isolation. A review of the medical literature on solitary confinement provides convincing evidence that isolation has severe psychological and physical effects. These effects are exacerbated if the person has previously been subject to torture and abuse, as is often the case with many immigration and national security detainees. Even relatively short periods in solitary confinement can cause severe and lasting physiological and psychological harm. Moreover, in many cases, the resulting harm rises to the level of torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, in violation of domestic and international law. The unequivocal position of Physicians for Human Rights is that solitary confinement should not be used at all in immigration and national security detention. Details: Cambridge, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, 2013. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2013 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/Solitary-Confinement-April-2013-full.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/Solitary-Confinement-April-2013-full.pdf Shelf Number: 128356 Keywords: Illegal ImmigrantsImmigrant DetentionSolitary Confinement (U.S.) |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union Title: The Dangerous Overuse of Solitary Confinement in the United States Summary: Over the last two decades, the use of solitary confinement in U.S. correctional facilities has surged. Before 1990, "supermax" prisons were rare. Now, 44 states and the federal government have supermax units, where prisoners are held in extreme isolation, often for years or even decades. On any given day in this country, it's estimated that over 80,000 prisoners are held in isolated confinement. This massive increase in the use of solitary has happened despite criticism from legal and medical professionals, who have deemed the practice unconstitutional and inhumane. It's happened despite the fact that supermax prisons typically cost two or three times more to build and operate than traditional maximum-security prisons. And it's happened despite research suggesting that supermax prisons actually have a negative effect on public safety. As fiscal realities are forcing us to cut budgets for things like health and education, it is time to ask whether we should continue to use solitary confinement despite its high fiscal and human costs. This briefing paper provides an overview of the excessive use of solitary confinement in the U.S. and strategies for safely restricting its use. Details: New York: ACLU, 2014. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper: Accessed April 1, 2015 at: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/stop_solitary_briefing_paper_updated_august_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/stop_solitary_briefing_paper_updated_august_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 135105 Keywords: Costs of CorrectionsIsolationPrisonersPrisonsSolitary Confinement (U.S.)Supermax Prisons |
Author: Weiss, Catherine Title: 51-Jurisdiction Survey of Solitary Confinement Rules in Juvenile Justice Systems Summary: The attached survey provides an overview of policies governing the solitary confinement of juveniles in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey allows the reader to understand each state's approach to imposing this punishment or employing alternatives. This accompanying memo discusses the trends that emerge from the survey, caveats to keep in mind while reading the survey, and ways in which New Jersey's policymakers may be informed by other states' policy choices. The survey reveals that nineteen jurisdictions prohibit lengthy punitive solitary confinement (also called room restriction, isolation, seclusion, or segregation, among other terms). Some states allow confinement for only a few hours a day; these are counted among the states that disallow confinement. For example, Idaho allows confinement for up to eight hours. Most states that prohibit confinement as a punishment do allow confinement when necessary to prevent harm to other youth or the security of the facility (the distinction between punitive and non-punitive confinement is further explored below). A number of jurisdictions also restrict the use of confinement for even non-punitive reasons to under a few hours. These include Delaware, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Among states that allow punitive confinement, the most common limits on the amount of time that juveniles may spend in confinement are three days and five days. Eleven states allow juveniles to remain in confinement for between one and four days. In eleven other states, time limits on confinement range from five to ninety days. Ten more states place no time limit on confinement. In most states, confinement triggers due process protections. Additionally, facilities must seek administrative approval for prolonged confinement. For example, in Georgia, juveniles are entitled to a hearing before any confinement is imposed. Confinement beyond three days may only be imposed for certain enumerated offenses, and confinement beyond five days requires approval from six administrators, including the Deputy Commissioner of Youth Services. Although counted in the survey among states allowing punitive confinement, the conditions of confinement in Maine and Mississippi are less restrictive than conditions in other states. In Maine, juveniles are allowed to attend activities and meals outside of the cell, while in Mississippi, juveniles are allowed outside the cell for at least four hours a day. The programs in these states could be classified as either solitary confinement or a loss of privileges. This survey classifies the programs as solitary confinement because they punish offenses by confining a juvenile alone in a cell for most of his or her waking hours. The survey distinguishes between states that use confinement as a punishment for past actions and states that use confinement non-punitively, to reduce the threat from the juvenile's behavior to himself, others, or the security of the facility. States that fall into the latter category often specify that the juvenile may only be kept in room restriction until the juvenile is no longer a threat. For example, in Utah, confinement may only be used when necessary to prevent harm to another person, prevent the youth from escaping, prevent damage to property, or prevent continued program disruptions. The juvenile must be released once he or she demonstrates a example, it is possible that a facility with a disciplinary policy that is unspecified in the state's administrative code and cannot be found online has a more restrictive policy than a facility for which information is available. States' confinement polices vary in their restrictiveness. Some states allow solitary confinement for an unspecified amount of time each day, while others require that a youth in solitary be allowed outside of the cell for a minimum period. Youth may be given other privileges that make the confinement experience less solitary. Two states that have policies straddling the line between solitary confinement and a loss of privileges are Mississippi and Maine. Maine is frequently cited as a state that has disallowed punitive solitary confinement for juveniles. By statute, Maine does not authorize solitary confinement for juveniles. However, Maine's regulations allow for punitive room restriction for up to 30 hours for "major misconduct." Youth in room restriction are allowed to leave their rooms for educational and treatment programs, regularly scheduled visits, and meals. In Mississippi, youth must be allowed out of their cells for a minimum of four hours a day. These policies stand in contrast to some more restrictive policies, such as New Jersey's current rules, which do not specify that the youth may leave confinement for educational activities, and require that the facilities provide only five hours of recreation outside of the cell per five-day period of confinement. The careful reader should bear these distinctions in mind when categorizing states according to their confinement policies. Details: New York: Lowenstein Sandler, 2013. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2015 at: http://www.lowensteinprobono.com/files/Uploads/Documents/solitary%20confinement%20memo%20survey%20--%20FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.lowensteinprobono.com/files/Uploads/Documents/solitary%20confinement%20memo%20survey%20--%20FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 135364 Keywords: IsolationJuvenile DetentionJuvenile OffendersSolitary Confinement (U.S.) |