solitary confinement#Torture

File:ESP-klondike.jpg, Philadelphia]]

The practice of solitary confinement in the United States traces its origins to the late 18th century, when Quakers in Pennsylvania used the method as a substitution for public punishments. Research surrounding the possible psychological and physiological effects of solitary dates back to the 1830s. When the new prison discipline of separate confinement was introduced at Eastern State Penitentiary as part of the "Pennsylvania" or separate system in 1829, commentators attributed the high rate of mental breakdown to the system of isolating prisoners in their cells. Charles Dickens, who visited the Philadelphia Penitentiary during his travels to America, described the "slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body."{{Cite book|title=American Notes|last=Dickens|first=Charles|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1842}}

The Supreme Court of the United States made its first comment about the deleterious effects of solitary confinement in 1890, noting that the use of solitary led to reduced mental and physical capabilities (In re Medley 134 U.S. 160).{{Cite web | url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/In_re_Medley/Opinion_of_the_Court | title=In re Medley/Opinion of the Court - Wikisource, the free online library | access-date=12 August 2018 | archive-date=13 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813004820/https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/In_re_Medley/Opinion_of_the_Court | url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Arrigo |first1=Bruce A. |last2=Bullock |first2=Jennifer Leslie |title=The Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prisoners in Supermax Units |date=December 2008 |journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=622–640 |doi=10.1177/0306624X07309720 |pmid=18025074 |s2cid=10433547 }} Records from Danish prisons between 1870 and 1920 indicate that individuals in solitary confinement there had also experienced signs of acute mental distress, including anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations.{{cite journal |first=Peter Scharff |last=Smith |title='Degenerate Criminals': Mental Health and Psychiatric Studies of Danish Prisoners in Solitary Confinement, 1870–1920 |journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior |date=August 2008 |volume=35 |number=8 |pages=1048–1064 |doi=10.1177/0093854808318782|citeseerx=10.1.1.559.5564 |s2cid=220593357 }}

The use of solitary confinement increased greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the rising prevalence of the virus inside prisons and jails.{{cite journal |last1=Cloud |first1=David H. |last2=Ahalt |first2=Cyrus |last3=Augustine |first3=Dallas |last4=Sears |first4=David |last5=Williams |first5=Brie |title=Medical Isolation and Solitary Confinement: Balancing Health and Humanity in US Jails and Prisons During COVID-19 |journal=Journal of General Internal Medicine |date=6 July 2020 |volume=35 |issue=9 |pages=2738–2742 |doi=10.1007/s11606-020-05968-y |pmid=32632787 |pmc=7338113 |issn=0884-8734|doi-access=free }}{{cite news |title=As COVID-19 Spreads In Prisons, Lockdowns Spark Fear Of More Solitary Confinement |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877457603/as-covid-spreads-in-u-s-prisons-lockdowns-spark-fear-of-more-solitary-confinemen |access-date=3 September 2020 |work=NPR.org |language=en |archive-date=2 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902203000/https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877457603/as-covid-spreads-in-u-s-prisons-lockdowns-spark-fear-of-more-solitary-confinemen |url-status=live }} Many correctional facilities were locked down for up to 23 hours a day, confining people in their cells with no programming, phone access, or human contact. In the United States alone, more than 300,000 incarcerated people were held in virus-related lockdowns during the early months of the pandemic.{{cite web |title=Solitary Confinement Is Never the Answer: A Special Report on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Prisons and Jails, the Use of Solitary Confinement, and Best Practices for Saving the Lives of Incarcerated People and Correctional Staff |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a9446a89d5abbfa67013da7/t/5ee7c4f1860e0d57d0ce8195/1592247570889/June2020Report.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=June 2020}}

Solitary confinement is often used to induce a confession from a prisoner in pre-trial detention.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Peter Scharff |title=The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison Inmates: A Brief History and Review of the Literature |journal=Crime and Justice |date=January 2006 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=441–528 |doi=10.1086/500626|s2cid=144809478 }}{{cite journal |last1=Shalev |first1=Sharon |title=Solitary Confinement: The View from Europe |journal=Canadian Journal of Human Rights |date=2015 |volume=4 |pages=143 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/canajo4&div=12&id=&page=}} This practice has been more common in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

{{main|Protective custody}}

Solitary confinement is used on incarcerated individuals when they are considered a danger to themselves or others. It is also used on individuals who are at high risk of being harmed by others, for example because they are transgender, have served as a witness to a crime, or have been convicted of crimes such as child molestation or abuse. This latter form of isolation is known as protective custody, and can be either voluntary or involuntary.

Though proponents of solitary have often expressed the belief that solitary confinement promotes safety in correctional facilities, there is substantial evidence that points to the contrary.{{cite web |last1=Rain Tree |first1=Sara |title=Solitary Confinement and Prison Safety |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SW-Fact-Sheet-4-Prison-Safety-v230228.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=2023}} In 2002, the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America, chaired by John Joseph Gibbons and Nicholas Katzenbach, found that "the increasing use of high-security segregation is counter-productive, often causing violence inside facilities and contributing to recidivism after release."{{cite web |url=http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/Confronting_Confinement.pdf |title=Confronting Confinement: A Report of The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons |date=8 June 2006 |author=John J. Gibbons |author2=Nicholas de B. Katzenbach |access-date=18 June 2011 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228043635/http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/Confronting_Confinement.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2013 |url-status=dead}}

Shira E. Gordon has argued that solitary confinement "has not come close to solving the very problem it was meant to reduce: prison violence." In support of this view, Gordon cites a 2012 study showing that the rate of violence in California prisons is 20 percent higher than it was in 1989, when California's first supermax prison opened. Gordon also cites the Northern District of California court in Toussaint v. McCarthy, which found that solitary confinement "increase[d] rather than decrease[d] antisocial tendencies among inmates" at Folsom and San Quentin State Prisons in California.{{cite web |last1=Gordon |first1=Shira E. |title=Testimony Presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights 'Reassessing Solitary Confinement II: The Human Rights, Fiscal, and Public Safety Consequences' |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Shira-Gordon-solitary-confinement-submission1.pdf |access-date=28 June 2023}}

Solitary confinement is also commonly used as punishment for those who have violated prison rules or committed other disciplinary infractions. The practice is the norm in super-maximum security (supermax) prisons, where individuals who are deemed dangerous or high risk are held.

Critics allege solitary confinement has been used to punish and suppress organizing, activism, and other political activities in prisons.{{cite web |title=Behind Closed Doors: Abuse and Retaliation Against Hunger Strikers in U.S. Immigration Detention |url=https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/aclu_phr_behind_closed_doors_final_1.pdf |publisher=ACLU and Physicians for Human Rights |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=2021}} In immigration detention centers, reports have surfaced that immigrant detainees are being placed in solitary to keep those knowledgeable about their rights away from other detainees.{{cite journal |first1=Homer|last1=Venters |first2=Dana|last2=Dasch-Goldberg |first3=Andrew|last3=Rasmussen |first4=Allen S.|last4=Keller |title=Into the Abyss: Mortality and Morbidity Among Detained Immigrants |journal=Human Rights Quarterly |date=May 2009 |volume=31|number=2|pages=474–495 |doi=10.1353/hrq.0.0074 |s2cid=143979116 }} Individuals who go on hunger strike to protest poor conditions in immigration facilities are also frequently placed in solitary. Although immigration officials have claimed that their policy of isolating hunger strikers is for the protection of the detained person, medical and legal experts have pointed out that there is no medical basis behind the policy, and that, in the United States, it constitutes a violation of the detainee's First Amendment rights.

Solitary confinement is similarly used as retaliation in prisons and jails, including against whistleblowers who raise awareness of inhumane conditions and jailhouse lawyers who assist others in litigating their rights.{{cite web |last1=Gladden |first1=Alex |title=Prisoner advocate says inmate put in solitary for talking to reporter |url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/2023/05/12/prisoner-advocate-says-inmate-put-in-solitary-for-talking-to-reporter/70212678007/ |website=Montgomery Advertiser |access-date=29 June 2023 |date=12 May 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Barnes |first1=Roxanne |title=Jailhouse Lawyers Are Often Punished With Solitary Confinement |url=https://solitarywatch.org/2021/12/22/jailhouse-lawyers-are-often-punished-with-solitary-confinement/ |publisher=Solitary Watch |access-date=29 June 2023 |date=22 December 2021}} There have been further reports of people being placed in solitary based on their race, religion, or sexual orientation.{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Kayla |last2=Vanko |first2=Elena |title=The Impacts of Solitary Confinement |url=https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/the-impacts-of-solitary-confinement.pdf |publisher=Vera Institute of Justice |access-date=29 June 2023 |date=April 2021}}

While solitary confinement is less commonplace in Europe than in other parts of the world including the United States, it is still widely used in many European countries today.{{cite journal |last1=Shalev |first1=Sharon |title=Solitary confinement: the view from Europe |journal=Canadian Journal of Human Rights |date=2015 |volume=4 |issue=1 |url=https://cjhr.ca/articles/vol-4-no-1-2015/ |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526200458/https://cjhr.ca/articles/vol-4-no-1-2015/ |url-status=live }}

The European Court of Human Rights distinguishes between complete sensory isolation, total social isolation and relative social isolation{{cite report |title=Krav om fastsettelsesdom for brudd på EMK art. 3 og 8 |trans-title=Request for declaratory judgement for breach of the ECHR art. 3 & 8 |others=Anders Behring Breivik v. The State, with Ministry of Justice and Public Security |author=Oslo District Court |language=nb |docket=15-107496rVt-OTrR/02 |via=Dagbladet |url=http://www.dagbladet.no/f/domisakenomsoningsforhold15107496tviotirabbstaten.pdf |date=20 April 2016 |access-date=25 April 2016 |page=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429020641/http://www.dagbladet.no/f/domisakenomsoningsforhold15107496tviotirabbstaten.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2016}}, citing Ramirez Sanchez v. France (ECHR 59450/00) sec. 136. and notes that "complete sensory isolation, coupled with total social isolation can destroy the personality and constitutes a form of inhuman treatment which cannot be justified by the requirements of security or any other reason. On the other hand, the prohibition of contacts with other prisoners for security, disciplinary or protective reasons does not in itself amount to inhuman treatment or punishment."{{Cite report |author=Grand Chamber |title=Case of Ramirez Sanchez v. France |type=Judgment |date=4 July 2006 |publisher=European Court of Human Rights |docket=59450/00 |at=sec. 123, 136 |url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-76169 |access-date=2022-08-20 |archive-date=20 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820142951/https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-76169 |url-status=live }}, citing [http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#%7B%22appno%22:%5B%2225498%2F94%22%5D%7D Messina v. Italy] (no. 2) (dec.) (ECHR 25498/94) sec. "The Law" ss. 1.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, or CPT, defines solitary confinement as "whenever a prisoner is ordered to be held separately from other prisoners, for example, as a result of court decision, as a disciplinary sanction imposed within the prison system, as a preventive administrative measure or for the protection of the prisoner concerned."{{Cite report |chapter-url=https://rm.coe.int/16806cccc6 |chapter=Solitary confinement of prisoners |title=21st General Report of the CPT |publisher=European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Council of Europe |date=10 November 2011 |ref={{harvid|CPT Report 2011}} |postscript=, |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=6 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606170816/https://rm.coe.int/16806cccc6 |url-status=live }} sec. 54; CPT Standards (2015) sec. 29. The CPT "considers that solitary confinement should only be imposed in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort and for the shortest possible time."{{harvnb|CPT Report 2011|loc=sec. 56b, 64}}.

{{See also|Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case}}

Iceland has faced criticism for decades over its extensive use of pre-trial solitary confinement.{{Cite report |url=http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/isl/1994-08-inf-eng.pdf |title=Report to the Icelandic Government on the visit to Iceland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) |date=28 June 1994 |issue=CPT/Inf (94) 8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501050249/http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/isl/1994-08-inf-eng.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2006 |url-status=usurped}}{{cite news |last=Cox |first=Simon |date=15 May 2014 |title=The Reykjavik Confessions |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |format=interactive feature |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_7617/index.html |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617091829/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_7617/index.html |archive-date=17 June 2018}}{{Cite web |date=31 January 2023 |title=Iceland's abusive use of solitary confinement must end immediately |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/iceland-abusive-use-of-solitary-confinement-must-end-immediately/ |website=Amnesty International}} A 2023 report by Amnesty International documented that 61 percent of pre-trial detainees had spent time in solitary confinement in 2021; of those detained that year, 57 percent were foreign nationals, a percentage far higher than the percentage of foreign nationals in Iceland (around 14 percent of the population in 2021).{{Cite journal |date=31 January 2023 |title=Iceland: "Waking up to nothing" - Harmful and unjustified use of pre-trial solitary confinement |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur28/6373/2023/en/ |journal=Amnesty International |series=EUR 28/6373/2023 |pages=17–18}}

Italian prisoners subject to special surveillance ("41-bis regime") may be in de facto solitary confinement.{{cite report |title=Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 12 to 22 March 2019 |date=21 January 2020 |publisher=CPT |docket=CPT/Inf (2020) 2 |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-publishes-report-on-italy-focusing-on-prison-establishments |access-date=2022-08-20 |pages=28–38 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520120148/https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-publishes-report-on-italy-focusing-on-prison-establishments |url-status=live }} A person sentenced to multiple life sentences in Italy may be required by the Minister of Justice to serve a period of between 6 months to years in the "41-bis regime" of solitary confinement, subject to extension and review.{{cite web |last=Marini |first=Fernando |title=Report Decries Use of Solitary Confinement in Italian Prisons |website=Civil Liberties Union for Europe |date=4 March 2019 |url=https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/italy-41bisreport-nationalguarantor/16785 |access-date=2022-08-20 |postscript=, |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326023748/https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/italy-41bisreport-nationalguarantor/16785 |url-status=live }} citing {{cite report |last=Palma |first=Mauro |title=Thematic report on the special prison regime pursuant to Article 41-bis of the Penitentiary Act (2016–2018) |publisher=Italian Parliament reports |via=Garante nazionale dei diritti delle personeprivate della libertà personale |date=7 January 2019 |url=https://www.garantenazionaleprivatiliberta.it/gnpl/resources/cms/documents/a5db4acf7c430ee2221c5453720730c2.pdf |access-date=2022-08-20 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326023748/https://www.garantenazionaleprivatiliberta.it/gnpl/resources/cms/documents/a5db4acf7c430ee2221c5453720730c2.pdf |url-status=live }}

File:High Royds solitary confinement - geograph.org.uk - 1047059.jpg, Menston, West Yorkshire]]

In 2015, segregation (solitary confinement) was used 7,889 times.{{cite book |last1=Shalev |first1=Sharon |last2=Edgar |first2=Kimmett |title=Deep Custody: Segregation units and close supervision centres in England and Wales |date=2015 |publisher=Prison Reform Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1-908504-97-5 |url=https://www.solitaryconfinement.org/uk-solitary-confinement |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325114836/https://www.solitaryconfinement.org/uk-solitary-confinement |url-status=live }} 54 out of 85,509 prisoners held in England and Wales in 2015 were placed in solitary confinement cells in Close Supervision Centres (Shalev & Edgar, 2015:149), England and Wales' version of the US 'Supermax'.{{cite magazine |last=Tapley |first=Lance |title=The Worst of the Worst: Supermax Torture in America |date=1 November 2010 |url=http://www.bostonreview.net/tapley-supermax-torture-in-america.php |magazine=Boston Review |access-date=18 December 2010 |archive-date=6 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506163602/http://www.bostonreview.net/tapley-supermax-torture-in-america.php |url-status=live }}

The use of solitary confinement on juveniles and children, as elsewhere, has been a subject of contention. Critics argue that, in the United Kingdom, the state has a duty to "set the highest standards of care" when it limits the liberties of children.{{cite journal |last=Crook |first=Frances |title=Where Is Child Protection in Penal Custody? |date=September 2006 |journal=Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=137–141 |doi=10.1002/cbm.627 |pmid=16838387 }} Frances Crook is one of many to believe that incarceration and solitary confinement are the harshest forms of possible punishments and "should only be taken as a last resort". Because children are still mentally developing, Crook writes, incarceration should not encourage them to commit more violent crimes.

The penal system has been cited as failing to protect juveniles in custody. In the United Kingdom, 29 children died in penal custody between 1990 and 2006: "Some 41% of the children in custody were officially designated as being vulnerable". That is attributed to the fact that isolation and physical restraint are used as the first response to punish them for simple rule infractions. Moreover, Frances Crook argues that these punitive policies not only violate their basic rights but also leave the children mentally unstable and left with illnesses that are often ignored. Overall, the solitary confinement of youth is considered to be counterproductive because the "restrictive environment... and intense regulation of children" aggravates them, instead of addressing the issue of rehabilitation.

Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in British English as "the block", "The Segregation Unit" or "the cooler".{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5559761/Army-captain-was-real-life-Cooler-King-from-The-Great-Escape.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620133245/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5559761/Army-captain-was-real-life-Cooler-King-from-The-Great-Escape.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 June 2009 |title=Army captain was real life 'Cooler King' from The Great Escape |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |author= |date=17 June 2009 |access-date=16 April 2010 |location=London}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/3517476.stm |title=Cooler King recalls Great Escape |work=BBC News |author= |date=16 March 2004 |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-date=23 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823122213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/3517476.stm |url-status=live }}

{{main|Solitary confinement in the United States}}

Solitary confinement first arose in the United States in the late 1700s among religious groups like the Quakers, who thought isolation would promote repentance and rehabilitation. Though the practice fell out of use in the early 1900s, it experienced a resurgence during the tough on crime era in the 1980s and 1990s.{{Cite web|last=Wykstra|first=Stephanie|date=17 April 2019|title=The case against solitary confinement|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/17/18305109/solitary-confinement-prison-criminal-justice-reform|website=Vox|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212153857/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/17/18305109/solitary-confinement-prison-criminal-justice-reform|url-status=live}} This period also saw the construction of supermax prisons, which typically house individuals in indefinite solitary confinement consisting of upwards of 22 hours a day of isolation.{{Cite journal |last1=Kurki |first1=Leena |last2=Morris |first2=Norval |author-link2=Norval Morris |date=2001 |title=The Purposes, Practices, and Problems of Supermax Prisons |url= |journal=Crime and Justice |volume=28 |pages=385–424 |doi=10.1086/652214 |issn=0192-3234 |jstor=1147678|s2cid=147129265}}

In the United States penal system today, more than 20 percent of individuals in state and federal prisons and 18 percent of individuals in local jails are placed in solitary confinement or another form of restrictive housing at some point during their incarceration.{{Cite web|date=23 October 2015|title=Nearly 20 Percent of Prison and Jail Inmates Spent Time in Segregation or Solitary Confinement in 2011–12|url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/urhuspj1112pr.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019102536/https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/urhuspj1112pr.cfm|archive-date=19 October 2020|website=Bureau of Justice Statistics|publisher=United States Department of Justice}} According to a 2023 report from Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box, it is estimated that more than 122,000 people are held in solitary confinement in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States on any given day.{{cite web |title=Calculating Torture: Analysis of Federal, State, and Local Data Showing More Than 122,000 People in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons and Jails |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Calculating-Torture-Report-May-2023-R2.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=June 2023}} A report from the Liman Center at Yale Law School found that between 41,000 and 48,000 individuals were held daily in solitary confinement in state and federal prisons for 15 days or more in 2021, with over 6,000 individuals found to have been held in solitary for over a year.The Guardian, 24 Aug. 2022 [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/24/us-solitary-confinement-prisons?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other "Nearly 50,000 People Held in Solitary Confinement in US, Report Says"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126182146/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/24/us-solitary-confinement-prisons?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other |date=26 November 2022 }}

Since 2009, there have been legislative efforts in numerous states to ban the use of solitary confinement for vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, and LGBTQ+ people, as well as to end the use of long-term solitary confinement.{{cite web |title=Banning Torture: Legislative Trends and Policy Solutions for Restricting and Ending Solitary Confinement throughout the United States |url=https://unlocktheboxcampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UTB-BanningTorture-TrendReport-January2023.pdf |publisher=Unlock the Box |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=January 2023}} In 2020, New Jersey passed the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, which bans the use of solitary beyond 20 consecutive days.{{cite web |title=Gov. Murphy Signs Isolated Confinement Restriction Act Into Law |url=https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/press-releases/gov-murphy-signs-isolated-confinement-restriction-act-law |publisher=ACLU New Jersey |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=11 July 2019}} As of June 2023, New York,{{cite web |title=Senate Passes the 'HALT' Solitary Confinement Act |url=https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-halt-solitary-confinement-act |publisher=New York State Senate |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=18 March 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331103842/https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-halt-solitary-confinement-act |url-status=dead }} Connecticut,{{cite web |title=Governor Lamont Signs Legislation Limiting the Use of Isolated Confinement |url=https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/05-2022/Governor-Lamont-Signs-Legislation-Limiting-the-Use-of-Isolated-Confinement |publisher=ct.gov |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=10 May 2022}} and Nevada{{cite web |title=Lombardo Signs Bill to Limit Use of Solitary Confinement in Nevada Prisons |url=https://www.aclunv.org/en/news/lombardo-signs-bill-limit-use-solitary-confinement-nevada-prisons |publisher=ACLU Nevada |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=16 June 2023}} have passed legislation banning the use of solitary beyond 15 consecutive days, bringing their use of isolation in line with the United Nations' Mandela Rules.

In July 2023, United States Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) introduced the End Solitary Confinement Act, which would prohibit solitary confinement except for up to a four-hour maximum in all federal prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers if passed. The bill would also incentivize similar legislation to be enacted at the state and local levels.{{cite web |last1=Ortiz |first1=Erik |title=Bill to ban solitary confinement in federal prisons introduced in House |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/bill-ban-solitary-confinement-federal-prisons-introduced-house-lawmake-rcna96016 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=28 July 2023 |date=27 July 2023}}

Statistics indicate that members of marginalized groups are disproportionately likely to end up in solitary confinement. A 2019 Correctional Leaders Association/Yale Law School study found that Black women make up 21.5 percent of the United States female prison population, but 42.1 percent of the U.S. female prison population held in solitary.{{cite web |title=Time-in-Cell 2019: A Snapshot of Restrictive Housing |url=https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/liman/document/time-in-cell_2019.pdf |publisher=Association of State Correctional Administrators and the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=September 2020}} Another study found that 11 percent of all Black men born in Pennsylvania between 1986 and 1989 had been held in solitary by the age of 32.{{cite journal |last1=Pullen-Blasnik |first1=Hannah |last2=Simes |first2=Jessica T. |last3=Western |first3=Bruce |title=The Population Prevalence of Solitary Confinement |journal=Science Advances |date=26 November 2021 |volume=7 |issue=48 |pages=eabj1928 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abj1928 |pmid=34826243 |pmc=8626064 |bibcode=2021SciA....7.1928P }} Disparities in the use of solitary have also been found to exist for LGBTQ+ people, Latinos, and Native Americans.{{cite web |last1=Beck |first1=Allen J. |title=Use of Restrictive Housing in U.S. Prisons and Jails, 2011-12 |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/urhuspj1112.pdf |publisher=Bureau of Justice Statistics |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=October 2015}}

The disproportionate use of solitary on marginalized groups has been attributed to racism and other forms of discrimination which are exacerbated by the correctional environment. People of color may be more likely to be perceived as threatening and consequently receive more disciplinary tickets that land them in solitary;{{cite web |last1=Eskender |first1=Melat |title=Racism and Solitary Confinement |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SW-Fact-Sheet-1-Racism-v230228.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=2022}} LGBTQ+ individuals may be placed in solitary as protective custody (either voluntarily or involuntarily) to prevent them from being assaulted or otherwise victimized.{{cite web |last1=Truman |first1=Jennifer L. |last2=Morgan |first2=Rachel E. |title=Violent Victimization by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2017-2022 |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvsogi1720.pdf |publisher=Bureau of Justice Statistics |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=June 2022}} Notably, some transgender individuals have stated that they would rather risk their safety in the general prison population than being held in the isolation of protective custody.{{cite web |last1=Law |first1=Victoria |title=Maryland Solitary Confinement Reform Bill Stalls in Democratic State Legislature, Despite Rare Support From Corrections Union |url=https://solitarywatch.org/2023/05/25/maryland-solitary-confinement-reform-bill-stalls-in-democratic-state-legislature-despite-rare-support-from-corrections-union/ |publisher=Solitary Watch/The Nation |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=25 May 2023 |quote=One month after [Scheibe] was placed in segregation, staff offered her a choice. She could sign a body waiver, in which she would accept the purported risk of returning to general population, or she could remain in isolation. 'Had I not signed the body waiver, I very well might have killed myself,' Scheibe told Solitary Watch and The Nation. 'I would rather take my chances in general population than be locked in a six-foot cell.'}}

As Angela J. Hattery and Earl Smith have written, "Solitary confinement is a place where [the] racial history [of the United States] is on full display... Not only are the majority of the staff white and the majority of the prisoners Black and brown, but the very premise of solitary confinement relies on the foundation of white supremacy on which this country was built."{{cite book |last1=Hattery |first1=Angela J. |last2=Smith |first2=Earl |title=Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement |date=2022 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |isbn=978-1978823785}}

{{Main|La Tumba (Caracas)}}

The headquarters for the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in Plaza Venezuela, Caracas, have an underground detention facility that has been dubbed La Tumba (The Tomb). The facility is located at the place that the underground parking for the Metro Caracas was to be located. The cells are two by three meters that have a cement bed, white walls, security cameras, no windows, and barred doors, with cells aligned next to one another so that there is no interaction between prisoners.{{cite news|last1=Vinogradoff|first1=Ludmila|title="La tumba", siete celdas de tortura en el corazón de Caracas|url=http://www.abc.es/internacional/20150210/abci-tumba-celdas-tortura-venezuela-201502091144.html|access-date=29 July 2015|agency=ABC|date=10 February 2015|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309192225/https://www.abc.es/internacional/20150210/abci-tumba-celdas-tortura-venezuela-201502091144.html|url-status=live}} Such conditions have caused prisoners to become very ill, but they are denied medical treatment.{{cite web|title=Statement of Santiago A. Canton Executive Director, RFK Partners for Human Rights Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights |url=http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/031715_Canton_Testimony.pdf |website=United States Senate |access-date=29 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729035041/http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/031715_Canton_Testimony.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2015}} Bright lights in the cells are kept on so that prisoners lose their sense of time, with the only sounds heard being from the nearby Caracas Metro trains.{{cite news|title=Un calabozo macabro|url=http://huelladigital.univisionnoticias.com/venezuela-los-rostros-de-la-represion/category/la-tumba/|access-date=28 July 2015|agency=Univision|date=2015|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309183010/http://huelladigital.univisionnoticias.com/venezuela-los-rostros-de-la-represion/category/la-tumba/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Political protesters are left to rot in Venezuela's secretive underground prison|url=http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/political-protesters-are-left-to-rot-in-venezuelas-secretive-underground-prison/story-fnu2pycd-1227457672139|access-date=29 July 2015|agency=News.com.au|date=25 July 2015|archive-date=21 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021131605/http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/political-protesters-are-left-to-rot-in-venezuelas-secretive-underground-prison/story-fnu2pycd-1227457672139|url-status=dead}} Those who visit the prisoners are subjected to strip searches by multiple SEBIN personnel.

Allegations of torture in La Tumba, specifically white torture, are also common, with some prisoners attempting to commit suicide.{{cite news|title=UNEARTHING THE TOMB: INSIDE VENEZUELA'S SECRET UNDERGROUND TORTURE CHAMBER |url=http://interactive.fusion.net/venezuela-torture-prisons/ |access-date=29 July 2015 |agency=Fusion |date=2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729034955/http://interactive.fusion.net/venezuela-torture-prisons/ |archive-date=29 July 2015}} Those conditions according to the NGO Justice and Process are intended to make prisoners plead guilty to the crimes that they are accused of.

{{See also|Social deprivation|Touch starvation}}File:Fort Christiansvaern Christiansted St Croix USVI 07.jpg, United States Virgin Islands]]

Solitary confinement has been associated with significant negative effects on mental health.{{cite journal |last1=Walker|first1=J. |last2=Illingworth|first2=C. |last3=Canning|first3=A. |last4=Garner|first4=E. |last5=Woolley|first5=J. |last6=Taylor|first6=P. |last7=Amos|first7=T. |title=Changes in Mental State Associated with Prison Environments: A Systematic Review |date=18 November 2013 |journal=Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica |volume=129 |issue=6 |pages=427–36 |doi=10.1111/acps.12221 |display-authors=1 |pmid=24237622|s2cid=9187097 }} Research indicates that the psychological effects of solitary confinement may encompass a range of adverse symptoms including "anxiety, depression, anger, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis."{{cite journal |last1=Metzner |first1=Jeffrey L. |last2=Fellner |first2=Jamie |title=Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics |date=March 2010 |journal=J Am Acad Psychiatry Law |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=104–108 |pmid=20305083 |url=http://www.jaapl.org/content/38/1/104.full |access-date=18 March 2014 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625065631/http://www.jaapl.org/content/38/1/104.full |url-status=live }} These symptoms are so widespread among individuals held in solitary that some psychiatrists have labeled them "SHU Syndrome," with SHU standing for Special Housing Unit or Security Housing Unit. In a 1983 journal article, Stuart Grassian described SHU Syndrome as a "major, clinically distinguishable psychiatric syndrome."{{cite journal |last=Grassian |first=Stuart |date=November 1983 |title=Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |volume=140 |issue=11 |pages=1450–1454 |doi=10.1176/ajp.140.11.1450 |pmid=6624990 |s2cid=6716834 }} Grassian notes solitary confinement can cause extremely vivid hallucinations in multiple sensory modalities including visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory. Some other effects include dissociative features including amnesia, motor excitement with aimless violence and delusions.

For those who enter the prison system already diagnosed with a mental illness, solitary confinement can significantly worsen their condition. Incarcerated individuals with mental health conditions often "decompensate in isolation, requiring crisis care or psychiatric hospitalization." The lack of human contact and sensory deprivation that characterize solitary confinement have been shown to cause permanent or semi-permanent changes to brain physiology.{{cite journal |last=Grassian |first=Stuart |url=http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1362&context=law_journal_law_policy |title=Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement |date=January 2006 |journal=Wash. U. J. L. & Pol'y |volume=22 |page=325 |format=PDF |access-date=18 June 2008 |archive-date=21 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221160459/http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1362&context=law_journal_law_policy |url-status=live }} Alterations to brain physiology can lead individuals to commit suicide or self-harm.{{cite journal |last=Haney |first=Craig |title=Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and "Supermax" Confinement |date=January 2003 |journal=Crime & Delinquency |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=124–156 |doi=10.1177/0011128702239239 |s2cid=145380807 }}

A major issue within the prison system in general, and solitary confinement in particular, is the high number of incarcerated individuals who turn to self-harm. Such self-harm can include, but is not limited to, cutting, head-banging, and swallowing foreign objects.{{cite journal |last1=Kaba|first1=Fatos |last2=Lewis|first2=Andrea |last3=Sarah|first3=Glowa-Kollisch |last4=Hadler|first4=James |last5=Lee|first5=David |last6=Alper|first6=Howard |last7=Selling|first7=Daniel |last8=MacDonald|first8=Ross |last9=Solimo|first9=Angela |title=Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=104 |issue=3 |date=March 2014 |pages=442–447 |display-authors=1 |doi=10.2105/ajph.2013.301742 |pmid=24521238 |pmc=3953781}}

A 2014 study of New York City jail admissions published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, after controlling for length of jail stay, age, race/ethnicity, and mental illness status, individuals placed in solitary confinement were 6.9 times more likely to commit self-harm and 6.3 times more likely to commit potentially fatal self-harm than the general jail population. While 7.3 percent of jail stays included any time in solitary, 53.3 percent of acts of self-harm and 45 percent of acts of potentially fatal self harm took place among people who had spent time in solitary during their stay.

Incarcerated individuals who attempt self-harm or suicide are often placed on suicide watch, an intensive form of isolation and monitoring often in a room with few if any furnishings. While on suicide watch, individuals are typically denied clothing and bedding (to prevent them from hanging themselves using bedsheets), as well as denied programming and contact visits. Though these conditions are intended to prevent individuals from committing suicide, they often exacerbate trauma and other pre-existing mental health conditions.{{cite web |last1=Quandt |first1=Katie Rose |title=When 'Suicide Watch' Becomes a Death Sentence |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/suicide-watch-death-sentence/ |website=The Nation |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=22 May 2023}} Despite controls in place, individuals in suicide watch cells have still found ways to harm themselves.

Solitary confinement has been reported to cause hypertension, headaches, profuse sweating, dizziness, and heart palpitations.{{cite book |last1=Shalev |first1=Sharon |title=Prisons in health |date=2014 |publisher=World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe |location=Copenhagen |isbn=978-92-890-5059-3 |pages=27–35}} Many individuals in solitary experience extreme weight loss due to digestion complications and abdominal pain. They can also develop neck and back pain and muscle stiffness due to long periods of little to no physical activity. These symptoms have been linked to the intense anxiety and sensory deprivation caused by isolation, and often worsen with repeated visits to solitary.{{cite web |last1=Corcoran |first1=Mary|title=Effects of Solitary Confinement on the Wellbeing of Prison Inmates|url=https://wp.nyu.edu/steinhardt-appsych_opus/effects-of-solitary-confinement-on-the-well-being-of-prison-inmates/|access-date=27 May 2021|website=Applied Psychology Opus|publisher=NYU Steinhardt|archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829162343/https://wp.nyu.edu/steinhardt-appsych_opus/effects-of-solitary-confinement-on-the-well-being-of-prison-inmates/|url-status=live}}

Studies have shown that solitary confinement also has a marked effect on the human brain. fMRI scans have found that social isolation causes brain activity nearly identical to hunger cravings, and that it activates the same regions of the brain as physical pain.{{cite web |last1=Riccobene |first1=Veronica |title=Solitary Confinement and the Brain: The Neurological Effects |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SW-Fact-Sheet-5-Neurological-Effects-v230613.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch |date=June 2023}} Furthermore, the sensory deprivation of solitary has been found to cause reduced electroencephalography (EEG) frequency on brain scans. The part of the brain that plays a major role in memory has been shown to physically shrink after long periods without human interaction.{{Cite web |last=Herring |first=Tiana |date=December 8, 2020 |title=The research is clear: Solitary confinement causes long-lasting harm |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/12/08/solitary_symposium/ |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=Prison Policy Initiative |language=en}} One study that placed adult rats in solitary-like conditions found that, after a month in isolation, the rats' neurons had shrunk by 20 percent.{{cite conference |vauthors=Heng V, Zigmond MJ, Smeyne RJ |date=5 November 2018 |title=Neurological effects of moving from an enriched environment to social isolation in adult mice |url=https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/4649/presentation/20940 |conference=Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting}}

Some sociologists argue that prisons create a unique social environment that do not allow individuals to create strong social ties inside or outside of the facility. The social isolation that incarcerated individuals experience is especially acute in solitary confinement, where they may be denied access to phone calls, mail, and visits from loved ones.

The psychological effects of isolation continue long after individuals are released from solitary, affecting society as a whole. Upon their reentry into society, many individuals who have spent long periods of time in solitary report having difficulty adjusting back to life outside the prison walls.{{cite journal |last=Kupers |first=Terry A. |author-link=Terry Kupers|title=What To Do With the Survivors? Coping With the Long-Term Effects of Isolated Confinement |journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior |volume=35 |number=8 |date=August 2008 |pages=1005–1016 |doi=10.1177/0093854808318591 |s2cid=146474911 }} They are often startled easily, and avoid crowds and public spaces. They seek out small, confined spaces because public areas overwhelm their sensory stimulation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/health/solitary-confinement-mental-illness.html|title=Solitary Confinement: Punished for Life|last=Goode|first=Erica|date=3 August 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=6 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206172251/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/health/solitary-confinement-mental-illness.html|url-status=live}}

Anthony Graves, who spent more than 18 years in solitary confinement on the Texas death row before being exonerated in 2010, described the lasting effects of solitary in his testimony for the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights:

Solitary confinement does one thing, it breaks a man's will to live and he ends up deteriorating. He's never the same person again… I have been free for almost two years and I still cry at night, because no one out here can relate to what I have gone through. I battle with feelings of loneliness. I've tried therapy but it didn't work. The therapist was crying more than me. She couldn't believe that our system was putting men through this sort of inhumane treatment.{{cite web |last1=Graves |first1=Anthony |title=Testimony Presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on The Constitution, Civil Rights & Human Rights 'Reassessing Solitary Confinement: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety Consequences' |url=https://solitarywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/anthony-graves-texas-death-row-exoneree.pdf |website=Anthony Believes |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=19 June 2012}}

According to numerous studies, any amount of time in solitary confinement can increase the risk of recidivism after release.{{cite thesis |last1=Nguyen |first1=Anh |title=The Determinants and Consequences of Solitary Confinement: Risk Factor, Future Criminal Justice Involvement, and Mortality |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/145805 |publisher=PhD Thesis |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=2018|hdl=2027.42/145805 |type=Thesis }}{{cite journal |last1=Mears |first1=Daniel |last2=Bales |first2=William D. |title=Supermax incarceration and recidivism |journal=Criminology |date=December 2009 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=1131–1166 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00171.x}} A 2007 matched control study of Washington State prisons found that people in the study cohort who spent time in supermax prisons had a 3-year felony recidivism rate of 53 percent, which was 15 percent higher than that of their counterparts in the general prison population. The recidivism rate was even higher among people who were released directly from supermax into the community, at 69 percent.{{cite journal |last1=Lovell |first1=David |last2=Johnson |first2=Clark |last3=Cain |first3=Kevin |title=Recidivism of Supermax Prisoners in Washington State |journal=Crime & Delinquency |date=October 2007 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=633–656 |doi=10.1177/0011128706296466|s2cid=53064653 }}

The legality of solitary confinement has been frequently challenged over the past sixty years as conceptions surrounding the practice have changed. Much of the legal discussion concerning solitary confinement has centered on whether or not it constitutes torture or cruel and unusual punishment. While international law has generally begun to discourage solitary confinement's use in penal institutions,{{cite journal |last=Conley |first=Anna |title=Torture in US Jails and Prisons: An Analysis of Solitary Confinement Under International Law |date=April 2013 |journal=Vienna J. On Int'l Const. Law |volume=7 |pages=415–453 |url=http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/vioincl7§ion=52 |access-date=1 May 2014 |archive-date=26 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226171226/http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/vioincl7§ion=52 |url-status=live }} opponents of solitary confinement have been less successful at challenging it within the United States legal system.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Torture Manfred Nowak and Juan Méndez have "repeatedly and unequivocally stated that prolonged solitary confinement is cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and may amount to torture," though their statements are not primary sources in international law.{{rp|427}}

A 2005 law journal article argued America's detention system is far below the basic minimum standards for treatment of prisoners under international law and has caused an international human rights concern: "U.S. solitary confinement practices contravene international treaty law, violate established international norms, and do not represent sound foreign policy."{{cite journal |last=Vasiliades |first=Elizabeth |title=Solitary Confinement and International Human Rights: Why the US Prison System Fails Global Standards |journal=American University International Law Review |year=2005 |volume=21 |pages=71–101 |url=http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=auilr |format=PDF |access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=19 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819185552/http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=auilr |url-status=live }}

Critics of solitary confinement regard the practice as a form of psychological torture with measurable physiological effects, particularly when the period of confinement is longer than a few weeks or is continued indefinitely.{{cite magazine |last=Gawande |first=Atul |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande |title=Is long-term solitary confinement torture? |magazine=The New Yorker |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-date=16 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716011332/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande |url-status=live }}

{{cite journal|author1=A. Vrca |author2= V. Bozikov |author3= Z. Brzović |author4= R. Fuchs |author5= M. Malinar |title=Visual evoked potentials in relation to factors of imprisonment in detention camps |date= September 1996 |journal=International Journal of Legal Medicine |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=114–117 |doi=10.1007/BF01369669|pmid= 8956983 |s2cid= 21450401 }}. This is the study of 57 Yugoslav POWs referenced in Atul Gawande's 2009 New Yorker article.{{cite web|first=Tracy|last=Hresko|url=http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=pilr|date=Spring 2006|title=In the Cellars of the Hollow Men|publisher=Pace International Law Review|access-date=13 March 2011|archive-date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901033804/http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=pilr|url-status=live}}

In October 2011, attorney and activist Juan E. Méndez, then the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, called on all countries to eliminate the practice except in "very exceptional circumstances and for as short a time as possible," with a complete ban for juveniles and individuals with mental disabilities. "Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation," Méndez told the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian, and cultural affairs. He continued: "Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles."{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097|title=UN News - Solitary confinement should be banned in most cases, UN expert says|first=United Nations News Service|last=Section|date=18 October 2011|website=UN News Service Section|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624053501/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097|url-status=live}}

The United Nations Committee Against Torture cited use of solitary confinement in the United States as excessive and a violation of the Convention Against Torture in 2014.{{cite web |last1=Nambiar |first1=Sridevi |title=UN Committee on Torture Says U.S. Must Reform Its Use of Solitary Confinement |url=https://solitarywatch.org/2014/12/05/un-committee-against-torture-says-u-s-must-reform-its-use-of-solitary-confinement/ |publisher=Solitary Watch |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=5 December 2014}} The United Nations' "Mandela Rules", which were adopted in 2015 and establish minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners, prohibit placements in solitary beyond 15 consecutive days.{{cite web |title=The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners |url=https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/Nelson_Mandela_Rules-E-ebook.pdf |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=2015}}

In Detention and Torture in South Africa: Psychological, Legal, and Historical Studies, psychologist Don Foster lists solitary confinement as one of the most common forms of torture used on South African detainees. "Given the full context of dependency, helplessness and social isolation common to conditions of South African security law detention," Foster writes, "there can be little doubt that solitary confinement under these circumstances should in itself be regarded as a form of torture."{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Don |title=Detention and Torture in South Africa: Psychological, Legal and Historical Studies |date=1 January 1987 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London, United Kingdom |page=136}}

The harsh effects of solitary confinement on the individuals who experience it, particularly those diagnosed with mental illness, have led many to view the practice as cruel and unethical.{{cite book |last1=Polizzi |first1=David |title=Solitary Confinement: Lived Experiences and Ethical Implications |date=2017 |publisher=Policy Press |location=Bristol, United Kingdom |isbn=9781447337539}}{{cite journal |last1=Winters |first1=Ali |title=The Ethical Conflicts of Working in Solitary Confinement |journal=Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics |date=2019 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=18–27 |url=https://jswve.org/download/fall_2019_volume_16_no._2/articles/18-Ethical-conflicts-in-solitary-confinement-16-2-Fall-2019-JSWVE.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714053159/https://jswve.org/download/fall_2019_volume_16_no._2/articles/18-Ethical-conflicts-in-solitary-confinement-16-2-Fall-2019-JSWVE.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2020 }}{{cite journal |last1=Doshi |first1=Riya |title=An Ethical Analysis of Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons |journal=Scaffold: A Showcase of Vanderbilt First-Year Writing |date=Spring 2020 |volume=2 |url=https://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/index.php/UWS/article/view/4986/2785 |access-date=29 June 2023}}

In an article for Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Jeffrey Metzner and Jamie Fellner write that solitary confinement may constitute a violation of medical ethics. As the authors note, healthcare professionals are "ethically obligated to refrain from countenancing, condoning, participating in, or facilitating torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment," yet human rights experts have stated that solitary confinement may amount to such treatment. "It is not ethically defensible for health care professionals to acquiesce silently to conditions of confinement that inflict mental harm and violate human rights," they write.

Metzner and Fellner call on physicians not only to provide adequate medical services to individuals in isolation, but to advocate for changes to segregation policies in the facility in which they are employed and to undertake public advocacy to raise awareness of the harms of solitary in society as a whole.

File:Print Party, in solidarity with a prisoner led- movement calling for the abolition of solitary confinement. prepping for a big rally and on Tuesday in Sacramento. -rinitempleton -abolishsolitary -art -artis (cropped).jpg

{{Globalize | date = June 2020}}

For nearly as long as solitary confinement has existed, there have been individuals and organized movements protesting its existence. As early as 1838, Quaker prison reformer Elizabeth Fry traveled throughout England and Scotland to speak to policymakers about the dangers of solitary and to call for a reduction in its use.{{cite web |last1=Flower |first1=Ruth |title=Solitary Confinement and Quakers |url=https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2016-09/solitary-confinement-and-quakers |publisher=Friends Committee on National Legislation |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=28 September 2016}} During the mid- to late-20th century, solitary confinement served as a site of resistance for imprisoned Black radicals. At New York's Attica Correctional Facility, for example, Black Muslims purposely filled restrictive housing units to prevent them from being used punitively against members of the Nation of Islam.{{cite book |last1=Felber |first1=Garrett |title=Those Who Know Don't Say: The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement, and the Carceral State |date=January 2020 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |page=68}}

In July 2011, individuals held in Security Housing Units (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison began a hunger strike to protest the "torturous conditions" in SHU. The participants also sought to advocate for an end to California's policy of holding alleged gang members in indefinite solitary confinement, as well as the termination of the debriefing process, which compels people in solitary to identify either themselves or others as gang members in order to leave isolation. Over the course of the strike, more than 6,000 incarcerated individuals throughout the California prison system stood in solidarity with the Pelican Bay hunger strikers by refusing food.{{cite journal |last=Cohn |first=Marjorie |title=Prisoners Strike Against Torture in California Prisons |date=Spring 2011 |journal=National Lawyers Guild Review |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=61–62 |url=http://marjoriecohn.com/prisoners-strike-against-torture-in-california-prisons |access-date=20 March 2014}}

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The men at Pelican Bay organized another strike in 2013, this time drawing 32,000 participants across 33 California prisons.{{Cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/california-prison-hunger-strike-30000_n_3567639.html |first=Kathleen |last=Miles |title=California Prison Hunger Strike: 30,000 Inmates Refuse Meals |work=The Huffington Post |date=9 July 2013 |language=en |access-date=3 April 2014}} As a result of the strike and subsequent litigation by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation agreed to end indefinite solitary confinement for all individuals in custody.{{cite web |title=Landmark Agreement Ends Indeterminate Long-Term Solitary Confinement in California |url=https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/landmark-agreement-ends-indeterminate-long-term-solitary |publisher=Center for Constitutional Rights |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=1 September 2015}} The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, a coalition of grassroots organizations and family members of strike participants, played a key role in raising public awareness for the strikers and their demands.{{cite web |title=About | date=3 June 2011 |url=https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/about/#:~:text=The%20Prisoner%20Hunger%20Strike%20Solidarity,to%20achieve%20their%20Five%20Core |publisher=Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity |access-date=4 July 2023}}

In the years following the Pelican Bay strikes, incarcerated individuals across the United States have continued to organize for improved prison conditions, including an end to prolonged solitary confinement. In 2022, incarcerated workers in Alabama withheld labor to draw attention to harsh prison conditions and the need for decarceration.{{cite web |last1=Ware |first1=Jared |title=Alabama prison strikers' demands push for decarceration |url=https://prismreports.org/2022/11/11/alabama-prison-strikers-demands-decarceration/ |publisher=Prism |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=11 November 2022}} In 2023, dozens of incarcerated individuals in Texas went on hunger strike to protest the state's solitary confinement policies.{{cite web |last1=Flahive |first1=Paul |title=A Texas prisoners' hunger strike didn't bring the change they'd hoped. Inmates plan to strike again. |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/26/hunger-strike-prison-texas |publisher=WBUR |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=26 April 2023}} Prison officials in some cases have retaliated against strike participants by sending them to solitary confinement.{{cite news |last1=Honig |first1=Doug |last2=Lee |first2=Melissa |title=Hunger Strikers Released from Solitary Confinement at New Detention Center |date=4 April 2014 |publisher=American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State |url=https://aclu-wa.org/news/hunger-strikers-released-solitary-confinement-nw-detention-center |access-date=12 June 2016}}

In light of the increasing public scrutiny of solitary confinement and its documented effects, corrections leaders, policymakers, and advocates have begun to look to alternatives. The New York City Department of Correction announced in 2013 that it would start transferring individuals with severe mental illness who commit disciplinary infractions to a setting similar to a hospital ward, where they would receive medication and therapy. Those with less severe mental illness who violate facility rules are still placed in solitary, but with increased hours of therapy and a behavioral intervention program.{{cite news |last=Yee |first=Vivian |title=City Plans New Approach to Disciplining Mentally Ill Inmates |date=2013-05-12 |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/nyregion/a-new-approach-to-disciplining-mentally-ill-inmates.html |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=20 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820043823/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/nyregion/a-new-approach-to-disciplining-mentally-ill-inmates.html |url-status=live }}

Another approach that facilities have taken to reduce their reliance on solitary is to restrict the reasons for which people can be sent to solitary in the first place. In 2013, Maine replaced its policy of using solitary as a punishment for every infraction with a system of "informal sanctions" of reductions in privileges, which helped the state cut its then-full supermax population in half.{{cite news |last=Tapley |first=Lance |title=Reform comes to the supermax |date=2011-05-25 |newspaper=Portland Phoenix |url=http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/121171-reform-comes-to-the-supermax |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502224907/http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/121171-reform-comes-to-the-supermax/?page=1#TOPCONTENT |archive-date=2014-05-02}} In 2021, Washington State ended its use of disciplinary segregation entirely, stating in a press release that "the agency's data indicates that disciplinary segregation… has not been proven to be an effective sanction or deterrent to negative behavior."{{cite web |title=Press Release: Washington State Department of Corrections Ends Disciplinary Segregation |url=https://www.doc.wa.gov/news/2021/09302021p.htm#:~:text=PRESS%20RELEASE%3A%20Washington%20State%20Department%20of%20Corrections%20Ends%20Disciplinary%20Segregation,-Released%20September%2030&text=Clarification%3A%20On%20September%2030%2C%202021,use%20of%20all%20%27solitary%20confinement. |publisher=Washington State Department of Corrections |access-date=11 July 2023 |date=30 September 2021}}

A number of jurisdictions have also enacted legislation prohibiting the use of solitary for vulnerable groups or limiting it to a set number of days for the general prison population. New York's Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act prohibits people from being placed in solitary for more than 15 consecutive days, or 20 days in any 60-day period. The legislation also bans placements in solitary for individuals 21 and under or 55 and older; people with physical, medical, or mental disabilities; and people who are pregnant or have recently given birth.{{cite web |title=Summary of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (A.2500/S.1623) |url=https://nycaic.org/legislation/ |publisher=New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement |access-date=24 July 2023}} Legislative efforts to curb the use of solitary, many of which reflect aspects of HALT, have taken place or are underway in at least 44 other states.

Finally, some corrections agencies have drawn inspiration from European countries such as Norway and Germany for reforming their use of solitary.{{cite web |last1=Guthrie |first1=Janelle |title=Looking to Norway for Inspiration on Reducing the Use of Solitary Confinement |url=https://www.vera.org/news/addressing-the-overuse-of-segregation-in-u-s-prisons-and-jails/looking-to-norway-for-inspiration-on-reducing-the-use-of-solitary-confinement |publisher=Vera Institute of Justice |access-date=11 July 2023 |date=11 March 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Subramanian |first1=Ram |last2=Shames |first2=Alison |title=Sentencing and Prison Practices in Germany and the Netherlands: Implications for the United States |url=https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/european-american-prison-report-v3.pdf |publisher=Vera Institute of Justice |access-date=11 July 2023 |date=October 2013}} In these countries, solitary confinement is typically used far less often and for shorter periods of time than in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Crumpler |first1=Rachel |title=How do prisons in other countries prepare inmates for life outside? |url=https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/07/24/prison-reform-advocate-foreign-prisons-life-outside/ |access-date=24 July 2023 |date=24 July 2023}} Norwegian prison cells are also usually more spacious and better furnished compared to their North American counterparts.{{cite journal |last1=Angelis |first1=Sophie |title=Limits to Prison Reform |journal=UC Irvine Law Review |date=December 2022 |volume=13 |issue=1 |url=https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr/vol13/iss1/5}} However, scholars have noted that the experience of solitary confinement in Norway is not necessarily less painful, and have been critical of prison reformists for prioritizing aesthetic sensibilities over the lived experiences of incarcerated people. In 2018, the United Nations Committee against Torture criticised the "high rates of prolonged isolation" of prisoners in Norway, of which it stated, "amounts to solitary confinement".{{cite news |last= Orange |first= Richard |date= 13 December 2023 |title= EXPLAINED: How different is the Norwegian prison system really? |url= https://www.thelocal.no/20231213/explained-how-different-is-the-norwegian-prison-system-really |work= The Local Norway |access-date= 7 March 2024}}

• Cabin fever
• Isolation to facilitate abuse
• Prison#Control units
• Prison abolition movement
• Single-celling
• Separate system
• Box (form of torture involving solitary confinement in an overheated room)
• Solitary Watch
• Suicide watch
• Discipline and Punish
• Touch starvation

{{Reflist}}

• Birckhead, T. R. (2015). Children in isolation: The solitary confinement of youth. Wake Forest Law Review 50(1), 1-80.
• Shalev, S. & Edgar, K. (2015). Deep Custody: Segregation Units and Close Supervision Centres in England and Wales. London: Prison Reform Trust.
• Shalev, S. (2009). Supermax : controlling risk through solitary confinement. Cullompton, UK: Willan. ISBN 978-1-84392-409-8.

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2016/apr/27/6x9-a-virtual-experience-of-solitary-confinement 6×9: A virtual experience of solitary confinement]. The Guardian.
• [https://seeingsolitary.limancenter.yale.edu/ Seeing Solitary: A Project of the Liman Center at Yale Law School]
• [https://www.aclu.org/documents/stop-solitary-advocacy-campaign-tools Stop Solitary - Advocacy Campaign Tools]. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• [https://solitarywatch.org/author/voicesfromsolitary/ Voices from Solitary: Dispatches from People Surviving the Lived Experience of Solitary Confinement]. Solitary Watch.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2A8EBLjT4 Why US prisons need to abolish solitary confinement | Laura Rovner | TEDxMileHigh]. TED (conference).

• [https://abolishsolitary.ca/ Campaign for the Abolition of Solitary Confinement]
• [https://nycaic.org/ New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)]
• [https://solitaryconfinement.org/ solitaryconfinement.org]
• [https://solitarywatch.org/ Solitary Watch]
• [https://endtorturenow.org/ The End Solitary Confinement Act]
• [https://www.togethertoendsolitary.org/ Together to End Solitary Confinement]
• [https://unlocktheboxcampaign.org/ Unlock the Box]

{{Incarceration}}

{{Portal bar|Law}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Forensic psychology

Category:Penal imprisonment

Category:Penology

Category:Torture

Category:Human rights by issue

Category:Prisoner abuse