Solitary confinement will be banned from use against juvenile offenders
According to a report published by Amnesty International, on any given day, about 100,000 incarcerated prisoners are in long-term or indefinite solitary confinement. In an op-ed published by the Washington Post on Jan. 25, 2016, President Barack Obama wrote that the continued use of solitary confinement in American prisons is “an affront to our common humanity.”
Under new rules put forth by a set of executive actions, the longest time that a prisoner can be placed in solitary confinement after their first offence is 60 days—a number reduced from the maximum period of 365.
President Obama is moving to ban solitary confinement—except in cases where it is used for a prisoner’s own safety—in all juvenile and low-level offender federal prisons. This [pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…he has shifted his focus to issues of race and representation.[/pullquote]
comes as a long sought-after change by advocates of prison reform who claim that long-term solitary incarceration begets detrimental mental effects. President Obama’s decision came after he directed Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and the Department of Justice to review the overuse of solitary confinement across U.S. prisons.
The review found that, while there are circumstances in which the use of solitary confinement is potentially necessary for the prisoner’s own safety or for the safety of staff and other inmates, it should only be used as a last resort and with certain constraints. An increasing number of studies have shown that the use of solitary confinement can increase a prisoner’s chance of recidivism. Furthermore, President Obama noted that extended isolation can have “devastating, lasting psychological consequences,” that can contribute to pre-existing mental illnesses, and even generate new mental health problems.
President Obama decided to implement the suggestions made by the justice department following the publishing of the review. The guiding principles suggest that solitary be used sparingly on inmates, that the reasons for its uses be clearly expressed to prisoners, that plans for rehabilitation back into regular prison populations be made and catered individually for each prisoner, and that there be an increase in number of hours allowed outside of solitary confinement during the day, among other changes.
Some states have already made changes to their implementation of solitary confinement. California settled a landmark lawsuit last year, agreeing to an overhauling of its prison systems, including its uses of solitary confinement. Colorado and New Mexico have both reduced the number of inmates in isolation.
As President Obama’s final term winds down, he has shifted his focus to issues of race and representation. President Obama has grown more vigilant in seeking to overhaul and reform the criminal justice system, specifically in situations where the system has been accused of racial bias against minorities.
President Obama hopes that the changes made at the federal level will influence state and local corrective facilities. The American president’s power is limited at the state level and his ability to affect change directly is fettered. However, the president and the federal system can offer grants to prisons that implement reforms.
Additionally, President Obama’s condemnation of solitary confinement is incredibly symbolic. In July 2015, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison; he has also openly discussed issues like sexual assault in prisons as well as criminal re-entry programs.
On July 21, 2015, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez and Chairperson of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Seong-Phil Hong called on the United States government to accept their requests to visit the country to help advance criminal justice reform.
The United Nations Convention Against Terror strictly prohibits the practice of prolonged isolation, as it inflicts suffering of a psychological nature. Méndez and Hong believe that President Obama’s limiting of solitary confinement could have considerable impact not only in America, but across the world.
President Obama is pushing for significant change across the partisan divide. He ended his op-ed piece by writing that he hopes criminal justice reform will contribute to a safer, better America for future generations.