The American people got a wake-up call yesterday from President Barack Obama about solitary confinement, a barbaric practice that鈥檚 routine in our country鈥檚 prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers. The White House delivered a new on solitary from the Department of Justice and a simultaneous pledge in an by the president to sharply reduce federal prisons鈥� reliance on this inhumane practice.
For state and local jails and prisons across the country, the Justice Department presents its first-ever guide to cutting back on solitary 鈥� principles the president endorsed.
On any given day, in U.S. prisons are held in solitary, where they are deprived of almost all human interaction, often sustaining permanent psychological damage. Many solitary survivors 鈥� like Reginald Dwayne Betts, Anthony Graves, and James Burns 鈥� left prison long ago but remain haunted by their days, months, and years in the hole.
In his , the president doesn鈥檛 mince words about solitary鈥檚 dangers 鈥� not only to prisoners鈥� mental health but to the world they must reenter when they鈥檝e served their time:
How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn鈥檛 make us safer. It鈥檚 an affront to our common humanity.
President Obama has also committed to the recommendations in the Department of Justice report targeting solitary in the federal prison system. For the estimated 10,000 people in solitary in those prisons, the changes will be dramatic:
- Solitary cells will no longer hold people with serious mental illnesses who ought to be in treatment, not in draconian conditions that make their conditions worse and too often contribute to self-harm and suicide.
- Youth under 18 won鈥檛 be sent to solitary, where the adolescent brain is at high risk for permanent damage.
- Transgendered prisoners, those with physical disabilities, and other vulnerable people won鈥檛 find themselves in solitary for no other reason than 鈥渢heir own protection鈥� from other prisoners; instead special units for vulnerable prisoners will be created.
- Nonviolent infractions and other minor rule breaking 鈥� like talking back to an officer or refusing a new cell assignment 鈥� won鈥檛 be punishable by solitary.
The goal for both the federal prison reforms and the principles aimed at the states is to make solitary the very last resort for prison officials. For years, that vision 鈥� solitary reduced to a rarity or eliminated altogether 鈥� has motivated the 老澳门开奖结果, the faith community, human rights leaders like , prisoners and their families, and the many others in the movement against solitary confinement. Increasingly, lawmakers and corrections officials are joining us in recognizing solitary鈥檚 harms, to prisoners but also to society.
With the Justice Department鈥檚 report and President Obama鈥檚 reforms, we have even more hope that this country can leave solitary behind.
