10 Reasons To Abolish Solitary Confinement
1. Research suggests that long-term isolation is linked to increased
recidivism.
2. There is no evidence that isolation reduces prison
violence.
3. Solitary confinement is a common punishment for youth in juvenile facilities in the USA .
4. Housing people in isolation costs taxpayers $50,000 per prisoner per year compared with $25,000 for general population units.
5. Isolation has a devastating impact on family communications and relationships.
6. A disproportionate percentage of prison suicides, including of youth, occur in solitary confinement units.
7. Fewer than half of prisoners in isolation meet state guidelines for supermax confinement.
8. The system of confinement with solitude initiated at Eastern State Penitentiary was determined to cause madness and officially abandoned in 1911.
9. Isolation exacerbates and breeds mental illness and causes psychological and physical deterioration.
10. The excessively harsh regime of supermax prisons is a violation of the international Convention Against Torture.