AFSC’s STOPMAX Campaign works to eliminate the
use of isolation and segregation in U.S.
prisons. Our strategies include research,
grassroots organizing, public education and
policy advocacy to abolish solitary confinement
or reduce its use.
What Is Solitary Confinement?
Solitary confinement of prisoners exists under
a range of names; isolation, control units,
supermax prisons, the hole, etc. Prisoners can
be placed in these units for many reasons; as
punishment, while they are under investigation,
as a mechanism for behavior modification, when
suspected of gang involvement, as retribution
for political activism or to fill expensive,
empty beds, to name but a few.