Solitary Confinement
All across the world, prisons enforce an extreme method of “correctional rehabilitation” called solitary confinement. There is a limited amount of research supporting the rehabilitative effects of this type of confinement; however, countless studies are successful in pointing out the negative repercussions of this form of imprisonment. Consequently, large numbers of activists and politicians argue that the federal should completely outlaw the practice of solitary confinement, pointing to the violations of the 8th and 14th Amendments of the constitution and the international standards set by the committee against torture. Unfortunately for this situation, states continue to use their reserved powers to prevent any significant change in solitary confinement. Along with this, the supreme court has not yet ruled this confinement as unconstitutional. Since the federal government stays in support of this form of torture and has only a hand full of states enforcing regulations on its use, I suggest that politicians argue for smaller changes within the solitary confinement system. These would include, activities for the inmates, monitored outdoor time, and other modifications that will lessen the chance of mental illness, suicide, and other types of self-harm.
Solitary confinement is an inhumane method of imprisonment that attempts to reinforce the hierarchies of power within the prison system. In other words, the guards maintain the upper hand because they are able to send inmates to the basement for an unregulated amount of time. Typically prisoners are sent to confinement from anywhere from a few weeks to several months but at Pelican Bay State Prison in California “more than 500 of the prisoners… have been in isolation units for over a decade.” That is 500 inmates in a concrete cell the size of a small bathroom for 22–24 hours a day with almost no exposure to sunlight and no items besides a bed and sometimes a stool. From the deprivation of vitamin D, to the lack of human interaction, the cruel and unusual aspects of solitary confinement seem unending. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for one’s physical and mental well-being and depriving prisoners of this is simply tortuous. Along with this, prohibiting human interaction is a severe punishment wich can quickly cause lasting mental illness in a formerly neurotypical inmate.
Craig Haney, a professor who studies the practice of psychological principles among civil rights dilemmas “has documented several cases of individuals with no prior history of mental illness who nonetheless developed paranoid psychosis requiring medical treatment after prolonged solitary confinement.” His research provides further evidence of the likelihood of burgeoning and worsening mental health as a result of solitary confinement. For example, cells will either have no light source or they will be permanently bright. Along with this, former solitary confinement prisoners have mentioned the horrifying yells coming from the other confinement cells that they have no choice but to listen to.
This type of confinement can be best described as a concrete shoebox. They are not allowed any personal items, sunlight/ vitamin D, or any vocal or physical contact with other people. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for physical and mental well-being and this is one of the many reasons why so many people consider solitary confinement to be tortuous. …, “cells are around 7 or 8 feet by 10 feet” in size, and people stay in their cells for about “22.5 to 24 hours per day.” They are completely restricted from contact with anyone else, and there are usually no daily activities that they are allowed to do. There is not even a window, so the prisoners are basically in a concrete closet until they are released.
Prison systems across the United States have vague guidlines on when solitary confinement should and should not be used. This allow the guards to put people in for any type of minor indiscretion. Existing regulations affirm that Solitary Confinement is meant for large misdemeanors committed by the inmates; however, “many are placed in solitary for nonviolent offenses, and some are not even criminals, having been arrested on immigration charges. Others are thrown into isolation cells “for their own protection” because they are homosexual or transgendered or have been raped by other inmates.” While this may seem like a helpful use of solitary confinement,due to the mental repurcusions that follow, it does not seem like a legit form of protection. Additionally, confining inmates under these circumstances can lead to the stereotyping of inmates by the guards and officialls.
There are two main distinctions within the consitution that should theoretically intercept the use of solitary confinement. More specifically, the 8th article of the bill of rights explicitly prohibit the use of cruel and unusual punish and the 14th article assures that every citizen shall not be reprimanded without
due process of the law.” Solitary confinement disobeys article 14 since it adds punishment after the prisoner has already been sentenced without the presence of a judge or any type of representation. Along with this, it goes against international standards set by the Committee Against Torture that state that Solitary Confinment should be eliminated. So far, however, both federal and state politicians have successfully argued against the dissolution of solitary.
California does have some restrictions on its use, but Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill attempting to abolish the use of solitary confinement. Supporters of the bill predicted that it would even save the state money since they would not need to spend that much on extra facilities and guards. Another attempt to bring down solitary confinement was established through Wilson v. Seiter. Unfortunately, this case reinforced the verdicts from Francis v. Resweber and Estelle v. Gamble, concluding through a 5–4 vote that since there was no direct “infliction of pain” and therefore, solitary confinement is not cruel and unusual. The leading opinion came from “Justice Scalia, who famously observed: solitary confinement is certainly cruel but not unusual and is therefore not unconstitutional.” Solitary confinement is usually not a rehabilitative process and so, despite Scalia’s remarks, it seems like an unusual method of punishment.
In order to accomodate for the over 80k prisoners who are currently in solitary confinement I suggest that politicians push smaller changes such as providing books and other forms of entertainment for the inmates. Along with this they should allow those confined to connect with an online therapist of mental health aid in order to alleviate some of the stress from the confinement. Nowadays, there are many resources online for free mental health support and allow it would not be the best quality of support it would offer something for the inmates to hang on to at no extra cost to the prison.
In addition to this, having a bit of yard time in order to increase the inmates vitamin D absorption would be a reasonable requeset since they have methods of safely transporting the prisoners in and out of solitary confinement. . They might not think this is a safe option due to their perception of solitary inmates as treacherous beings however this yard time can be different from the yard time spent by the regular inmates. Rather than roaming around freely, they, unfortunately, will be forced to wear cuffs outside and posssibly ankle cuffs as well. In addition to this, it will be completely separate from regular outdoor time so there is no chance of conflict with the other inmates. Hopefully, these small changes will lead to future ratifications of the solitary confinement system until it is entirely indistinguishable from it’s current state. As a result, the prisoners who are forced to spend their time in solitary confinement will have less of a chance for developing severe mental illnesses or engaging in suicidal actions. Additionally, if solitary confinement remains it will hopefully have the rehabilitative benefits that the prison system seems to avoid.
Some argue that staying in solitude from other people can help them start over and make new mental connections. Apparently, “people are more motivated by a loss than a gain,” says a solitary confinement supporter. The supporters never seem to mention the possible psychological effects but rather focus on how the “correctional staff can maintain their sense of authority” , failing to mention the adverse effect that this overwhelming sense of authority can have. … states that “some of the very survival skills adopted in reaction to the pains of isolation, such as withdrawal and going mute, render the individual dysfunctional upon release” So along with being inwardly damaged by their time in solitary confinement, prisoners also experience issues with outwardly displaying what is going on in their heads. This creates further barriers on the rehabilitation of the prisoners post- confinement.
Despite several attempts to eradicate the use of solitary confinement, the powers reserved to the states allows prisons across the country to uphold its use. Rather than offering rehabilitative effects on the prisoners, solitary confinement traumatizes the inmates, and they often require rehabilitativem support to get over the negative effects of this tortuous imprisonment.
