What Is Solitary Confinement?
“Until we embrace those who are incarcerated as part of our human family, our society will continue to decompose from the inside.”
NANCY KURSHAN
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
BELL HOOKS
“What if abolition is something that grows? What if abolishing the prison industrial complex is the fruit of our diligent gardening, building and deepening of a movement to respond to the violence of the state and the violence in our communities with sustainable, transformative love?"
ALEXIS PAULINE GUMBS
“Ending solitary confinement is fundamentally about humanity.
The question of whether to embrace a more dignified and humane approach to violence than the current system might be complicated if the current system were working. But when that system is failing, the burden of proof shifts. We should not be asking whether there is an appetite or opening for something new. We should be asking whether there is any moral or practical basis whatsoever for continuing with the old.”
DANIELLE SERED
The Practice
Solitary confinement, the practice of isolating people in cells for 22-24 hours a day, stands as a significant aspect of incarceration in the United States. Today, the estimated number of individuals held in isolation in U.S. prisons is 100,000, compared to only 55 in the United Kingdom. This practice, done in all 50 states, has serious consequences for the life and dignity of incarcerated people. 29% of incarcerated people who spend some time in solitary confinement during a one-year period have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. 50% of suicides in prison take place in solitary confinement; youth who are put in isolation are 19 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
The Conditions
The conditions of isolation speak to such bleak outcomes: the average size of a solitary confinement cell is 7 x 10 feet. Compare this to the average parking space size of 8 x 16 feet. Incarcerated people in isolation are often only allowed 1 to 2 hours of exercise a day in a fenced-in area called a “dog run.” Yet, for such severe conditions, no judge or jury in the United States ever sentences anyone to solitary confinement as such. It is a punishment meted out entirely by corrections officials, outside the due process of the courts, and with no evidence that the practice of isolation reduces prison violence whatsoever. Quite the contrary, criminal violence by those held in solitary has been found to increase by 10% to 15%. Besides the human and ethical cost, isolation also has a negative economic impact. Whereas the average cost of keeping someone incarcerated in prison is $25,000 per year, the average cost of keeping a person in solitary confinement is three times that, at $75,000 per year.
The System
Solitary confinement is the control mechanism that has enabled our system of mass incarceration to grow into the monstrosity it is. The practice is designed to intimidate, crush, and “disappear” people who are deemed a threat to the prison status quo. But the alternative is not “solitary-lite”—which we’ve seen at Cook County Jail and in Colorado’s prisons—repackaging the same cruelty with slightly different parameters and a more palatable name. Eliminating long-term isolation would fundamentally transform and shrink our carceral system.
The Goal
Our ultimate goal is decarceration and the abolition of the prison system. We believe that our tax dollars should be invested in people and used to address underlying social, economic and mental & public health issues. Communities that are most impacted by the criminal law system are those with a majority population of Black, Indigenous and People of Color populations as well as low income and Non-English speaking populations. These impacted communities have a history of over-policing and their social systems being defunded. These communities need funds reinvested in them now and an end to criminalizing the people who live there. The people who live in these communities also need to be decision makers in the planning and implementation of any community investment program.
The Movement
Nonetheless, there are global guidelines which could reduce the impact of isolation. In 2011, United Nations torture expert Juan Méndez called for a ban on long-term solitary confinement, arguing instead for a 15-day maximum for a person to be held in isolation. This is because of the lasting psychological damage caused by periods of isolation longer than 15 days. However, the United States still has a long way to go in meeting these standards. In California alone, 78 people remain in solitary confinement for durations exceeding 20 years and counting.
The Mandela Rules
The “Nelson Mandela Rules” for the treatment of prisoners were adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The rules apply to everyone held in a UN member state’s prisons.
The Mandela rules define solitary confinement as at least 22 hours a day spent with no meaningful human interaction. Solitary confinement lasting longer than15 days is prohibited. Solitary confinement is permitted only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review. Solitary confinement is prohibited in the case of prisoners with mental or physical disabilities when their conditions would be exacerbated by such measures. Solitary confinement of women and children is prohibited.
The resolution makes it clear that solitary should be used only in extreme cases and should be the very last of options prison officials use when it comes to disciplinary actions.
Solitary by the Numbers
Statistics compiled by Solitary Watch
100k
Estimated number of individuals held in isolation in U.S. Prisons
55
Approximate number of individuals held in long-term solitary in the UK
50
US States that practice solitary confinement
29%
Percentage of individuals living with mental illness who spent time in solitary in a one-year period
50%
Percentage of prison suicides that take place in isolation
19X
Number of times youth are more likely to commit suicide in isolati
7 x 10
Average size of a solitary confinement cell, in feet
8 x 16
Average size of a parking space, in feet
22-24
Hours a day people in isolation spend inside their cells
1-2
Hours a day they are allowed to exercise in a fences “dog run”
0%
Percentage of people sentenced to solitary confinement by a judge and jury
100%
Percentage placed in solitary by corrections officials
$25k
Average cost of keeping a person in prison for a year
$75k
Average cost of keeping a person in solitary for a year
0%
Percentage decrease in prison violence through the use of solitar
10-15%
Percentage increase in criminal violence by those held in solitary
2011
Year UN torture expert Juan Méndez called for a ban on long term solitary
15
Maximum days a person should be held in isolation, according to Méndez
15
Days before isolation begins to cause lasting psychological damage
78
Number of people who were held in solitary in California for more than 20 years
“Ending solitary confinement is fundamentally about humanity.
The question of whether to embrace a more dignified and humane approach to violence than the current system might be complicated if the current system were working. But when that system is failing, the burden of proof shifts. We should not be asking whether there is an appetite or opening for something new. We should be asking whether there is any moral or practical basis whatsoever for continuing with the old.”
DANIELLE SERED
“I’ve experienced times so difficult and felt boredom and loneliness to such a degree that it seemed to be a physical thing inside so thick it felt like it was choking me, trying to squeeze the sanity from my mind, the spirit from my soul, and the life from my body.”
WILLIAM BLAKE
“They shouldn't be in prison, they should be in mental institutions.”
UPSTATE NY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
“And in a sense, one can look at solitary confinement as a microcosm of the whole system, solitary confinement within a prison. The prison is solitary confinement within the society. And how can one expect to create any kind of rehabilitation...in the context of the kind of isolation that happens in these institutions?”
ANGELA DAVIS
“To keep prisons safe I feel DOC needs to screen staff more instead of hiring a young guy that’s never been around minorities in his life…people fear what they don’t know…Also, give inmates more control of their daily routine…they should be able to pick the time of their yard, shower, and library. Giving inmates more control creates a more relaxed environment.”
#KA1544 SCI-FOREST, PA
“Because solitary is centered on punishment & retribution, it leaves little-to-no room for anything to grow. Like a healthy seed placed in unhealthy soil, the plant is limited in its potential to flourish. So too our institutions need, should, and can be places where people can blossom into the greatest version of themselves and thereby bring us closer to a society that is reflective of our shared values.”
JOHNNY PEREZ
“Reforming prisons is urgent,...and the most urgent part of reforming solitary, because in a real way the whole system relied on it.”
UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE, JUAN MENDEZ
“Prisons without solitary confinement would still be prison.
It’s the difference between deciding to burn someone alive or leaving them to wander beneath the desert sun until they die of heat stroke.”
EMILE DEWEAVER