Ending Torture by Solitary Confinement In Illinois
Web PDF • Imposed PDF• Raw TXT (OCR)



![SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CAN DESTROY PEOPLE As early as 1890, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that even short periods of solitary confinement caused people to fall “into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them,” while “others became violently insane” or “committed suicide.” Even those who “stood the ordeal better were not generally reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity.” Judge Patrick Murphy, sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of lllinois, found that prolonged isolation has negative impacts on incarcerated people, impacts which can last for years even after they are released from solitary. 1 Modern science has now proven the extreme harm of solitary confinement. Isolation can cause “an extremely broad range of harmful psychological reactions.”*These include “panic, withdrawal, hypersensitivity, ruminations, cognitive dysfunction, hallucinations, loss of control, irritability, aggression, rage, paranoia, hopelessness, lethargy, depression, a sense of impending emotional breakdown, self-mutilation, and suicidal ideation and behavior.”* Solitary confinement can drive previously healthy people to mental illness, in addition to worsening preexisting psychiatric conditions® No wonder, then, that people in solitary confinement account for almost half of all prison suicides, even though they account for a small portion of the American prison population ’ Solitary confinement may literally cause the brain to shrink.’ Isolation B has been shown to affect the neurological structure of rodents, with @ their brains exhibiting “smaller neurons, with fewer branches in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex regions, which affect learning, memory, and executive brain functions."’In humans, “[clonditions of severe and sustained stress[]" like those experienced by people in solitary confinement, harm the hippocampus, which “phsyically shrinks,” and “begins to fail in its functioning, with loss of emotional and stress control, loss of stress regulation, sometimes defects in memory, spatial orientation, and other cognitive processes, and in extreme cases, lasting changes in mood, including severe depression.” 8 In fact, “even one week in solitary can lead to significant changes in electrical activity in the brain, reflecting “slowed brain activity and poorer performance on intellectual and perceptual-motor tests.”®](ending-torture-by-solitary-confinement-in-illinois-chris-bridges-david-shapiro-kate-schwartz 4.png)






![BLACK ILLINOISIANS ARE SUBJECTED TO SOLITARY AT A DISPROPORTIONATE RATE e rostrctive housing i, ciss area on B Wing Dison Correctional Cnter - X H In lllinois, Black people suffer the torture of solitary confinement more frequently than white people. To begin, Black Illinoisians are more than seven times more likely to be incarcerated than white lllinoisians**But even among people who are incarcerated in lllinois, being Black greatly increases the chances of experiencing solitary confinement. According to one study, Black people accounted for 54.7% of the lllinois prison population, and 73.5% of the lllinois solitary confinement population. In contrast, white people accounted for 31% of the lllinois prison population and only 13.4% of the Illinois solitary confinement population.* RESTRICTING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IMPROVES PRISON SAFETY AND REDUCES COSTS For many years, corrections officials believed that solitary confinement would : o improve safety by isolating dangerous individuals’* Years of research data and statistical analyses now show otherwise. Increased use of solitary confinement is “not associated with reductions in facility or systemwide misconduct and violence. w2 Instead, studies show that “[p]risons with higher rates of restrictive housing [have] higher levels of facility disorder.” » 21 As Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Rick Raemisch abolished long-term solitary confinement throughout the state, implementing alternatives that included step-down programs and mental health units. He later recounted that at the time he implemented the change, “not everyone agreed with my new policy. But the corrections officers who had initially opposed it changed their minds after they began to see positive results.” 2In fact, a report by the Vera Institute of Justice notes that “Corrections staff often report experiencing significantly lower stress levels and increased feelings of safety after leaving solitary to work in less restrictive units, or when working in solitary units that have implemented substantial reforms. 1](ending-torture-by-solitary-confinement-in-illinois-chris-bridges-david-shapiro-kate-schwartz 11.png)



![CONCLUSION There is simply no excuse for lllinois’s use of solitary confinement. Other states have adopted solitary confinement reform with real teeth, and lllinois must do the same to prevent further torture, mental destruction, and death in its prisons. The time to act is now. REFERENCES 11n re Medley, 134 US. 160, 168 1890, 2] Westefer v Snyder, 725 F. Supp. 2d 735 (S.D. 1. 2010) 8] Craig Haney, Mental Health Issties in Long-Term Solitary and *Supermax’ Confinement, 43 CRIME & DELINQUENCY 124, 130 2003) 110, [5] Elizabeth Bennion, Banning the Bing: Why Extreme Solitary Confinement Is Cruel and Far Too Usual Punishment, 80 IND. L. 74,743 2015 6] Jules Lobel & Huda Ahil, Law & Neuroscience: The Case of Solitary Confinerent, 147 DADALUS, Fall 2018, at 61,68-70. Mid.at70 [8]10.at 69 6] James & Vanko, The Impacts of Solitary Confinement, Vera Insttute of Justice, at 2 (2021) 110] Declaration of Dr. Craig Haney, Davis v. Jeffrys, No. 16.¢v-600 (5.0. L filed Dec. 14,2020) at 107 11 Id at 13 D2] Johnson v Prentice, No. 22-693, siip op. at 1 (US. Nov. 13, 2023) D3] 1d.at3. 14] 16, s . 6] Davis v. Hughes, No. 316-cv-00600 (5.0 ), Docket No. 354, at . 07 . 18] 1d. Ac12 Dol id Ac 12 20] Charles Dickens, American Notes at 41 (New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1868 (1842) [21] Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Arts.I1 XVI; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ATt Vi 22] United Nations Standard Minimurm Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 43 & 44 23] Prison Policy Initiative, llinois Incarceration Rates by Race [24] Time-in-Cell. A 2021 Snapshot of Restrictive Housing, Tbi. 31 [25] Chad . Briggs et al, The Effect of Supermaximunn Security Prisons on Aggregate Levels of Institutional Violence, 41 Criminology 1341, 1341 1342 (2003); see also Benjamin Steiner & Calll M. Cain, The Relationship Between Inmate Misconduct, Institutional Violence, and Administrative Segregation: A Systeratic Review of the Evidence in Restrictive Housing in the U’S: Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions, Nat’ Inst.of Just. 165, 179 (2016]. 26] Molly Remch et al, Evaluation of a Prison Violence Prevention Program: Impacts on Violent and Non-Violent Prison Infractions, njury Epidemiology (2023] [27] Allen 3. Bck, Use of Restrctive Housing in USS. Prisons and Jails, 2011-12, US. Dept of Just.(Oct. 2015), See also ACLU of Tex & Tex. Civl Rights Project-Houston, A Solitary Failure: The Waste, Cost and Harm of Solitary Confinement in Texas, 8, 44 (Feb. 2015) 28] Rick Raemisch, Why We Ended Long-Term Solitary Confinement in Colorado, N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 12, 2017 [29] James & Vanko, supra, at 4. 50] Terry Kupers et al, Beyond Supermax Administrative Seqregation: Mississippis Experience Rethinking Prison Classification and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs, 36 Crim. Just.& Behavior 1037, 1043 (2009). 1] Cheryl Corley, North Dakota Prison Officials Think Outside the o to Revam Salitary Cenfinement, NPR Morning Edition Quly3),2018) 32] Levin, supra n18, at 3 (alterations in original](internal quotations omitted), 53] Stop Solitary, Paying the Price of Solitary Confinement (compiling cos studies from Arizona, California Connecticut, Maryland, Connecticu, and Texas); The Journalist’s Resource, Solitary confinement in US Prisans: A Research-Based Primer [34] Solitary Watch, Fact Sheet.The High Cost of Solitary Confinement,linois State Cormmission on Criminal Justice and Senténcing Reform, Final Report 15 (2016). 35 Cloud, D.H. Drucker, E. Browne. A. & Parsons, . (2015). Public Health and Solitary Confinement in the United States. American journal of public health, 1051, 18-26. [36] Brinkiey-Rubinstein ot a, Association of Restrictive Housing During Incarceration with Mortalty After Release, JAMA Network Open (Oct.2019]. 87] James & Vanko, supra, at & [36] U.S. Department of Justice, Report and Recommendations Cancerning the Use of Restrictive Housing 3 (2016). [BS] Y. Correct Law§ 137 [40] Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 18-96b. 141116, 9 (3)7)(c) {isting efinition as of April, 2023).The definition does not include time in a cell “during a facility-wide emergency, lockdown or for the purpose of providing medical o mental health treatment: 1421149 (el2). 430101 (4] [44] NJ. Stat_Ann.§30:4-825 et seq [45] N Stat Ann.§ 30.4.827 [emphasis added) [46] N Stat. Ann.§ 304-828(a)(9]. 15](ending-torture-by-solitary-confinement-in-illinois-chris-bridges-david-shapiro-kate-schwartz 15.png)


ENDING
TORTURE BY
SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT
IN ILLINOIS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report describes the urgent need for serious solitary confinement reform
in Illinois. Prisons exist to punish and rehabilitate people—not to torture
and destroy them. Solitary confinement literally causes the brain to shrink,
and it induces a broad range of severe harms, up to and including psychosis
and suicide. As practiced in lllinois, solitary confinement constitutes
torture under international human rights law.
Serious solitary reform would also improve prison safety, limit unnecessary
costs, reduce recidivism, and improve community safety. In fact, several other
states have enacted legislation placing real constraints on the use of solitary
confinement
12
|
forc
RE
A LTTUTANRAND e .
T
CONTENT ADVISORY 1
This report contains narratives from individuals who have experienced solitary
confinement, which may include descriptions of traumatic experiences,
psychological distress, and emotional turmoil. Reader discretion is advised as
the content may evoke intense emotions or trigger distressing memories for
some individuals
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
CAN DESTROY PEOPLE
As early as 1890, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that even short periods of solitary
confinement caused people to fall “into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it
was next to impossible to arouse them,” while “others became violently insane”
or “committed suicide.” Even those who “stood the ordeal better were not
generally reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity.”
Judge Patrick Murphy, sitting in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of lllinois, found that prolonged isolation has negative
impacts on incarcerated people, impacts which can last for years even after
they are released from solitary.
1
Modern science has now proven the extreme harm of solitary confinement.
Isolation can cause “an extremely broad range of harmful psychological
reactions.”*These include “panic, withdrawal, hypersensitivity, ruminations,
cognitive dysfunction, hallucinations, loss of control, irritability, aggression, rage,
paranoia, hopelessness, lethargy, depression, a sense of impending emotional
breakdown, self-mutilation, and suicidal ideation and behavior.”* Solitary
confinement can drive previously healthy people to mental illness, in
addition to worsening preexisting psychiatric conditions® No wonder, then,
that people in solitary confinement account for almost half of all prison suicides,
even though they account for a small portion of the American prison population
' Solitary confinement may literally
cause the brain to shrink.’ Isolation
B has been shown to affect the
neurological structure of rodents, with
@ their brains exhibiting “smaller neurons,
with fewer branches in the
hippocampus and cerebral cortex
regions, which affect learning, memory,
and executive brain functions."’In
humans, “[clonditions of severe and
sustained stress[]" like those
experienced by people in solitary
confinement, harm the hippocampus,
which “phsyically shrinks,” and “begins
to fail in its functioning, with loss of emotional and stress control, loss of stress
regulation, sometimes defects in memory, spatial orientation, and other
cognitive processes, and in extreme cases, lasting changes in mood, including
severe depression.” 8
In fact, “even one week in solitary can lead to significant changes in electrical
activity in the brain, reflecting “slowed brain activity and poorer performance on
intellectual and perceptual-motor tests.”®
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
CAN DESTROY PEOPLE
Dr. Craig Haney, a leading national expert on mental health in prisons,
conducted a comprehensive review of restrictive housing units in lllinois. Dr.
Haney found that these units “clearly constitute what is meant in correctional
practice and in the scientific literature as ‘solitary confinement.’ The IDOC
prisoners who are housed in these units are thus being exposed to what has
been long-considered a very dangerous form of isolation."*Many of these
IDOC units are “especially severe,” subjecting “prisoners to conditions and
forms of treatment that go beyond being painful, unpleasant, and
potentially harmful to being outright dangerous to prisoners’ mental health
and well-being*.
FOUR ILLINOISIANS WHO SURVIVED
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
BRIAN BEALS
WRONGFULLY CONVICTED, SPENT 35 YEARS INCARCERATED
Before his exoneration, Mr. Brian Beals spent 35
years incarcerated in lliinois prison facilities for a
crime he did not commit. In January of 2023, he finally
returned home when his wrongful conviction was
dismissed. Mr. Beals recalls that his first long
segregation stint caused him to rely on anything and
everything available to survive it: “| had to step back
from reality and find new ways to get through the
isolation. In order to cope, I relied on my imagination.”
Mr. Beals described this coping tool as his “imagination
on steroids.” He would often “use all of my energy to go
toa place deep inside my head but eventually food
trays would come, and I'd have to wake up or leave
that mental escape momentarily and then find that
place all over again.” If it wasn't for veteran
incarcerated people who suggested he become an
expert in this coping technique Mr. Beals feels he may
have “gone crazy."
MR. BEALS TODAY
His toughest time in segregation was at Pontiac Correctional Center. He recalls an
army of mice—numbering in the thousands—would come at night into his and
other cells. He would have to barricade the bottom gap in the door to protect
himself. He recalls having to stuff his shoes and make sure that his floor was clean
every day in order to thwart the mice from invading his small, confined space. As a
result, not only could he not sleep at night, but he also wouldn't want to as he had
to stand guard for invasion from mice each night. One time, he learned the hard
way and woke up to mice burying themselves in his shoes. Other incarcerated
individuals fared worse. He recalls one man a few cells down from him who lit
himself on fire because he couldn't take it anymore. Mr. Beals recalls the guards
being indifferent to that situation
Upon release from prison, Mr. Beals has done
everything he can to push for prison reform and share
his experiences in hopes that someone or something
will change the policies and practices used against
incarcerated individuals. While he feels blessed to have
his mental faculties intact, he knows several other
incarcerated individuals who have not been able to
reacclimate themselves to the outside world, especially
those who served in solitary confinement like him
MR. BEALS WITH HIS
MOTHER IN THE EARLY 90'S.
FOUR ILLINOISIANS WHO SURVIVED
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
ANGEL PANTOJA
Mr. Angel Pantoja was first incarcerated at the age of 17 and spent significant time in
segregation units. He recounts that in “F" house at Stateville, there were mice, roaches,
and other bugs everywhere. Everyone had to go to sleep with a hat on because the
roaches would craw into their ears. Some people would always keep their food hanging
from the ceiling so the mice wouldn't eat their food. Mr. Pantoja also recalls his time in
“I" House at Stateville. The temperatures of the shower were either ice cold in the winter
or boiling hot in the summer.
He recalls often using the word "bug" to describe people who had suffered significant
mental hardship due to their time in segregation units. He notes many people “just kept
losing their mind due to the amount of time people had to spend in there.”
He recalls that the yard looked like a little dog cage and there was one person for every
cage. "You actually feel like a dog. | remember just sitting in the cell and listening to
everyone around me. | just tried to remind myself to stay strong and not lose my mind."
In order to try and remain sane, Mr. Pantoja would write and read books. *I remember
listening to guys on the gallery, and to me, as I look back now, and after years of
trauma-informed care study, | know everyone was just in pain. The amount of mental
anguish happening under those conditions was immense.”
Right before Mr. Pantoja arrived, one young incarcerated individual had committed
suicide. He was very young and just couldn't go on. “Those walls are specifically
designed to break you. Let's throw out the argument of rehabilitation. Much like you
would break a wild horse. They have to find ways to break you to make you passive. Sad
they would use these inhumane conditions to break a human down like that but they
do.” Mr. Pantoja shared, ‘the most inhumane thing that happened to me there: My
parents decided to visit me there. | was handcuffed with chains around my feet and
waist. An officer was walking me to the visit area. In Pontiac (it's through a glass). My
mother sees me wrapped up in chains and then locked to the stool in front of the glass
and broke down. She immediately started screaming, "you're not an animal, you're not
an animal. Why are you doing this?" And my dad was pulling her away. And all | can say,
it's going to be okay mom.”
When asked about how he coped after release from prison, Mr. Pantoja shared that
he didn't feel comfortable at all. “I remember riding the pink I ity
and feeling very uncomfortable and then | wanted to quit my job. My boss told me
first, go talk to someone. | took her advice and got connected with a therapist at
the Chicago Justice Center and they told me | have PTSD. She told me, there's
nothing you could have done to prevent this. You went in as a seventeen-year-old
child. You lived 23 years of your life there. You weren't going to come out
unscarred.”
Today, Mr. Pantoja works at Adler University as the Project Coordinator for the Institute
on Public Safety and Social Justice.
FOUR ILLINOISIANS WHO SURVIVED
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
MICHAEL JOHNSON
In November 2023, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a judicial
opinion describing what an lllinois man named
in solitary confinement.
hael Johnson experienced while
For nearly three years, petitioner Michael Johnson—whom the
illinois Department of Corrections has classified as “seriously
mentally ill" based on his bipolar disorder, severe depression,
and other diagnosed conditions—was held in solitary
confinement at Pontiac Correctional Center, a prison two.
hours from Chicago. During that time, Johnson spent nearly
every hour of his existence in a windowiess, perpetually it cell
about the size of a parking space. His cell was poorly
ventilated, resulting in unbearable heat and noxious odors
The space was also unsanitary, often caked with human
waste. And because Pontiac officials would not provide
cleaning supplies to Johnson unless he purchased them from
the commissary, he was frequently forced to clean that filth
with his bare hands. Johnson was allowed out of his cell to
shower only once per week, for 10 brief minutes. 2
As Justice Jackson explained, Mr. Johnson faced over three years of “yard restrictions”
which prevented him from leaving his solitary confinement cell for an exercise yard for
over three years. “Thus, for three years, Johnson had no opportunity at all to stretch his
limbs or breathe fresh air."13
As a result, Justice Jackson continued, Mr.
Johnson's “mental state deteriorated rapidly.
He suffered from hallucinations, excoriated his
own flesh, urinated and defecated on himself,
and smeared feces all over his body and cell
Johnson became suicidal and sometimes
engaged in misconduct with the hope that
prison guards would beat him to death. His
muscles also became prone to spasms and
cramping, and he often, complained of
overwhelming fatigue.* Mr. Johnson’s
condition improved only when he was finally
removed from solitary and transferred to a
mental health unit.**
PICTURES OF PONTIAC
CORRECTIONAL CENTER
FOUR ILLINOISIANS WHO SURVIVED
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
JOSEPH MAPP
Mr. Joseph Mapp served 26 years, 5 months, and 26 days in linois. Mr.
Mapp recalls being forced into a segregation unit under an erroneous charge. “In 2018, |
was placed in segregation during Thanksgiving. At that time, | had been a “model
incarcerated individual,’ and was a teacher's assistant, peer educator, and frequently
engaged in positive activities with other incarcerated individuals.” As a teacher’s
assistant, Mr. Mapp would be allowed to receive necessary school supplies such as clear
folders that were provided by instructors and approved by the Warden to be in Mr.
Mapp's possession. One day he received a guard shake down by internal affairs and they
found those clear folders. As a result, “they put me in segregation for 30 days while doing
an investigation despite the fact | kept telling them | was permitted to have those items
by the Warden."
Mr. Mapp recalls being given a shower about two times a week. Notably, he was confined
tossitting in cells made of cinderblock that provided no air circulation. “In the summer-
time, these isolation cells would trap heat and in the winter time, it would trap the cold.
Ifit was 90 degrees outside, it would be TI0 degrees inside the cell house and even more
in a segregation unit."
Mr. Mapp states, “if you think there should be humanity of any kind in any way
inside prison, it's important to note that it's impossible to be humane in an
inhumane environment.” Mr. Mapp reflected on all the individuals with mental health
issues who were and are in segregation and the challenges they must overcome. He
noted, “everyone in segregation, they are just trying to maintain any mental sanity they
have left, and yet they're locked away in an environment that's always loud. People are
located far away from each other so they constantly yell down to others at all hours of
the day causing anybody present to lose sleep and not continuously be interrupted from
any mental comfort they can conjure up in those isolated cells.”
He recalls the humiliation he suffered when he would get a visit from a family member
and would be forced to engage i the practice of being strip searched, made to bend
over, and then shackled at his waist, hands, and feet to go to the next area. “I remember
struggling to walk into that area while shackled and a guard holding my chain like a
dog on a leash.” The humiliation would continue as Mr. Mapp would then be forced to
strip naked in front of guards with absolutely no respect for privacy, told to bend over a
second time, and then re-shackled just to be taken to see a family member. Most of
these visits were behind a glass window so he could not have any physical contact with
another person. “In order to maintain my dignity, | would decline family visits just so |
could avoid being subjected to that invasive strip search and shackling procedure over
and over”
Despite having been released from prison some time ago, Mr. Mapp still feels very
impacted by all his experiences inside of prison. It has taken Mr. Mapp some time to
trust others and trust himself as well. Mr. Mapp notes, "l am beyond blessed to have a
strong support system when | got out of prison and know that my experience makes me
an outlier. Many other formerly incarcerated individuals aren't afforded those same:
opportunities, same mentors, nor the same support networks.” Today, Mr. Mapp works.
as the Director of Reentry at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation.
ILLINOIS KEEPS HUNDREDS OF INDIVIDUALS IN SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT, SOMETIMES FOR YEARS AND DECADES
According to information compiled
by the Uptown People’s Law between January
Center based on lllinois
Department of Corrections records,
there were at least 600 people in
solitary confinement in Illinois at
any given time between May 2018
to May 2023. As late as May 2023,
there were over 1,000 people in
solitary confinement. 17
May 2023
In addition, in the approximately 12.5 year period between January 2011 and May
2023, over 65,000 people spent ten or more days in solitary confinement. *Forty-
four people spent over ten years in solitary confinement, and 11 people spent over
twelve years in solitary confinement.*®
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN ILLINOIS CONSTITUTES TORTURE
AND VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
Some two centuries ago, when Charles Dickens observed solitary confinement at an
American prison, he wrote: “I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of
the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body.”
Yet even today, as you read this report, people in solitary confinement in lllinois are
being tortured, on a daily basis, in violation of international human rights law. The
United States has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibit both “torture” and
“cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment."* The United Nations Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, often referred to as the “Mandela
Rules,” define the conditions under which solitary confinement becomes torture and,
therefore, violates international human rights law. Specifically, the Mandela Rules
provide that confinement without meaningful human contact for 22 or more
hours a day for a period greater than 15 days constitutes “torture or other cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”?
Right now, people in solitary in lllinois facilities not only experience the beginning of
torture that occurs after the fifteenth day of solitary confinement under international
human rights law. As discussed in the previous section of this report, they suffer the
continuation of torture—and its cumulative and worsening effects—for weeks,
months, years, and decades on end. 0
BLACK ILLINOISIANS ARE SUBJECTED TO
SOLITARY AT A DISPROPORTIONATE RATE
e rostrctive housing i, ciss area on B Wing
Dison Correctional Cnter - X H
In lllinois, Black people suffer the torture of
solitary confinement more frequently than
white people. To begin, Black Illinoisians are
more than seven times more likely to be
incarcerated than white lllinoisians**But even
among people who are incarcerated in
lllinois, being Black greatly increases the
chances of experiencing solitary confinement.
According to one study, Black people
accounted for 54.7% of the lllinois prison
population, and 73.5% of the lllinois solitary
confinement population. In contrast, white
people accounted for 31% of the lllinois prison
population and only 13.4% of the Illinois
solitary confinement population.*
RESTRICTING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IMPROVES
PRISON SAFETY AND REDUCES COSTS
For many years, corrections officials believed that solitary confinement would
: o
improve safety by isolating dangerous individuals’* Years of research data and
statistical analyses now show otherwise. Increased use of solitary confinement is
“not associated with reductions in facility or systemwide misconduct and violence.
w2
Instead, studies show that “[p]risons with higher rates of restrictive housing
[have] higher levels of facility disorder.”
» 21
As Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Rick Raemisch
abolished long-term solitary confinement throughout the state, implementing
alternatives that included step-down programs and mental health units. He later
recounted that at the time he implemented the change, “not everyone agreed with
my new policy. But the corrections officers who had initially opposed it changed
their minds after they began to see positive results.” 2In fact, a report by the Vera
Institute of Justice notes that “Corrections staff often report experiencing
significantly lower stress levels and increased feelings of safety after leaving
solitary to work in less restrictive units, or when working in solitary units that
have implemented substantial reforms.
1
RESTRICTING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
IMPROVES PRISON SAFETY AND REDUCES COSTS
Menand ComctnlCoer e ol n o 2 In Mississippi, for example, the number of
incidents requiring the use of force
plummeted simultaneously with a drastic
drop in the solitary confinement
population.?®In North Dakota, extreme
incidents such as suicide attempts and cell
flooding used to occur three or more times
every week in solitary confinement units.
After dramatic reductions in the use of
isolation, those types of incidents occur
only a few times a year.*! Within a year of
launching solitary confinement reforms,
Maine prisons reported “substantial
reductions in violence.” 2
Solitary confinement also costs taxpayers far more than incarceration in
general population, thereby decreasing available funding for measures that
would make could make prisons safer and more humane.* For example, at
an lllinois prison that has since been closed, keeping a person in solitary
confinement for one year cost approximately $92,000, compared to an average
cost of approximately $37,000 to incarcerate a person in lllinois for a year.*
Solitary is more expensive because operations are more staff-intensive. Staff
delivers meals, mail, toilet paper, and other necessities to each person, and
generally one or two staff members are required to physically restrain and escort
each person in solitary any time they leave their cell for showers, recreation, or
other activities.
12
REDUCING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
BENEFITS COMMUNITY LIFE AND SAFETY
Restricting the use of solitary confinement
also makes communities safer. Most people
who are incarcerated will be released, and “the
impact of long periods of isolation on their
health, employability, and future life chances
will be felt in the families and communities to
which they return.”* Solitary confinement
causes permanent harm that persists well
past release from prison. Many who survive
solitary do not ever recover from it. Compared
to other incarcerated people, those who
experience solitary are nearly 25% more likely
to die in their first year after release, 78% more
likely to commit suicide, and 127% more likely
to die of an opioid overdose within 14 days of
leaving prison. 3
The Vera Institute of Justice report collected studies and concluded: “Research
suggests that time spent in solitary may actually increase people’s likelihood
of post-release offending, especially violent re-offending.”
In contrast to solitary confinement,
increasing time spent outside a cell
can promote rehabilitation. According
to the United States Department of
Justice, “Correctional systems should
seek ways to increase the minimum
amount of time that inmates in
restrictive housing spend outside their
cells ... .Out-of-cell time should
include opportunities for recreation,
education, clinically appropriate
treatment therapies, skill-building,
and social interaction with staff and
other inmates.”*®
13
OTHER STATES HAVE ENACTED LEGISLATION
CURTAILING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
In recognition of the inhumane nature of solitary confinement and its devastating
psychological toll on people who are subjected to it, several states have enacted
laws to restrict the use of solitary confinement in their correctional institutions.
lllinois should join Washington, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey in
leading the way on reforming solitary—and thereby abolishing torture.
the
t (“HALT A
Notably
finement for any
st 4 hour
Connecticut: A Connecticut law that became effective July 1,2022, (the
“2022 PROTECT Act") restricts the permissible use of “isolated
confinement for incarcerated persons.”*° Under the 2022 PROTECT Act,
the term *isolated confinement” refers to “any form of confinement”
within a cell for 19 or more hours.*! The 2022 PROTECT Act sets a cap of
15 consecutive days in isolated confinement, or 30 total days within any
60-day period 2
In addition, during any period of isolated confinement, the 2022
PROTECT Act requires people to be provided access to reading
materials, paper and a writing implement; at least 3 showers per week,
and a minimum of 2 hours per day out of a cell, including at least 1 hour
for recreational purposes.*3
New Jersey: In July 2019, New Jersey Enacted the Isolated Confinement
Restriction Act (*ICRA"), which went into effect on August 1, 2020.* The
ICRA defines “isolated confinement” to mean confinement in a cell “with
severely restricted activity, movement, and social interaction” for more
than 20 hours a day **New Jersey requires 4 hours of out-of-cell time for
people in prisons. The ICRA prohibits prisons and jails from keeping
anyone in solitary confinement for more than 20 consecutive days or
longer than 30 total days during a 60-day period.*®
14
CONCLUSION
There is simply no excuse for lllinois's use of solitary confinement. Other states have adopted
solitary confinement reform with real teeth, and lllinois must do the same to prevent further
torture, mental destruction, and death in its prisons. The time to act is now.
REFERENCES
11n re Medley, 134 US. 160, 168 1890,
2] Westefer v Snyder, 725 F. Supp. 2d 735 (S.D. 1. 2010)
8] Craig Haney, Mental Health Issties in Long-Term Solitary and *Supermax’ Confinement, 43 CRIME & DELINQUENCY 124, 130
2003)
110,
[5] Elizabeth Bennion, Banning the Bing: Why Extreme Solitary Confinement Is Cruel and Far Too Usual Punishment, 80 IND. L.
74,743 2015
6] Jules Lobel & Huda Ahil, Law & Neuroscience: The Case of Solitary Confinerent, 147 DADALUS, Fall 2018, at 61,68-70.
Mid.at70
[8]10.at 69
6] James & Vanko, The Impacts of Solitary Confinement, Vera Insttute of Justice, at 2 (2021)
110] Declaration of Dr. Craig Haney, Davis v. Jeffrys, No. 16.¢v-600 (5.0. L filed Dec. 14,2020) at 107 11 Id at 13
D2] Johnson v Prentice, No. 22-693, siip op. at 1 (US. Nov. 13, 2023)
D3] 1d.at3.
14] 16,
s .
6] Davis v. Hughes, No. 316-cv-00600 (5.0 ), Docket No. 354, at .
07 .
18] 1d. Ac12
Dol id Ac 12
20] Charles Dickens, American Notes at 41 (New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1868 (1842)
[21] Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Arts.I1 XVI; International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ATt Vi
22] United Nations Standard Minimurm Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 43 & 44
23] Prison Policy Initiative, llinois Incarceration Rates by Race
[24] Time-in-Cell. A 2021 Snapshot of Restrictive Housing, Tbi. 31
[25] Chad . Briggs et al, The Effect of Supermaximunn Security Prisons on Aggregate Levels of Institutional Violence, 41
Criminology 1341, 1341 1342 (2003); see also Benjamin Steiner & Calll M. Cain, The Relationship Between Inmate Misconduct,
Institutional Violence, and Administrative Segregation: A Systeratic Review of the Evidence in Restrictive Housing in the U'S:
Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions, Nat' Inst.of Just. 165, 179 (2016].
26] Molly Remch et al, Evaluation of a Prison Violence Prevention Program: Impacts on Violent and Non-Violent Prison
Infractions, njury Epidemiology (2023]
[27] Allen 3. Bck, Use of Restrctive Housing in USS. Prisons and Jails, 2011-12, US. Dept of Just.(Oct. 2015), See also ACLU of Tex &
Tex. Civl Rights Project-Houston, A Solitary Failure: The Waste, Cost and Harm of Solitary Confinement in Texas, 8, 44 (Feb. 2015)
28] Rick Raemisch, Why We Ended Long-Term Solitary Confinement in Colorado, N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 12, 2017
[29] James & Vanko, supra, at 4.
50] Terry Kupers et al, Beyond Supermax Administrative Seqregation: Mississippis Experience Rethinking Prison Classification
and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs, 36 Crim. Just.& Behavior 1037, 1043 (2009).
1] Cheryl Corley, North Dakota Prison Officials Think Outside the o to Revam Salitary Cenfinement, NPR Morning Edition
Quly3),2018)
32] Levin, supra n18, at 3 (alterations in original](internal quotations omitted),
53] Stop Solitary, Paying the Price of Solitary Confinement (compiling cos studies from Arizona, California Connecticut,
Maryland, Connecticu, and Texas); The Journalist's Resource, Solitary confinement in US Prisans: A Research-Based Primer
[34] Solitary Watch, Fact Sheet.The High Cost of Solitary Confinement,linois State Cormmission on Criminal Justice and
Senténcing Reform, Final Report 15 (2016).
35 Cloud, D.H. Drucker, E. Browne. A. & Parsons, . (2015). Public Health and Solitary Confinement in the United States.
American journal of public health, 1051, 18-26.
[36] Brinkiey-Rubinstein ot a, Association of Restrictive Housing During Incarceration with Mortalty After Release, JAMA
Network Open (Oct.2019].
87] James & Vanko, supra, at &
[36] U.S. Department of Justice, Report and Recommendations Cancerning the Use of Restrictive Housing 3 (2016).
[BS] Y. Correct Law§ 137
[40] Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 18-96b.
141116, 9 (3)7)(c) {isting efinition as of April, 2023).The definition does not include time in a cell “during a facility-wide
emergency, lockdown or for the purpose of providing medical o mental health treatment:
1421149 (el2).
430101 (4]
[44] NJ. Stat_Ann.§30:4-825 et seq
[45] N Stat Ann.§ 30.4.827 [emphasis added)
[46] N Stat. Ann.§ 304-828(a)(9]. 15
CITTRINRNY i .
-'"m“‘“r-“‘“‘“"““fl
| e i
II'.!T""'...“.!F-E“"m"E““‘.!!!.."j