Overview
Solitary confinement causes severe and permanent damage on people subjected to it. The United Nations considers solitary confinement to, in many circumstances, violate the Convention Against Torture, and recommends prohibiting solitary confinement as a punishment for juveniles.
The urgency of this issue is particularly underscored by the story of Kalief Browder, who was held in solitary for more than a year at Rikers Island, tried several times to take his life, and eventually died by suicide after his release.
Solitary confinement is fundamentally a racial justice issue because of the disproportionate rate at which Black and brown people are housed in isolation. In addition to all the collateral consequences of a criminal record and challenges returning to their communities, young people of color must also cope with the mental and psychological trauma experienced while held in isolation.
Over the years, many advocacy groups have called for the ending of solitary confinement, and have succeeded in prohibiting solitary confinement as a punishment for juveniles in federal detention. See 18 U.S.C. § 5043. While some states have followed suit, to date there is no publicly available model state policy, which would similarly prohibit solitary confinement as a punishment for juveniles in state detention.
This project aims to create such model legislation, by researching where in each state’s laws solitary confinement is authorized for non-punitive reasons, so that advocates or legislators can easily draft legislation to repeal provisions.
Project Details
Seeking attorneys from law firms and/or corporate legal departments to research the law in 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico
Data will be used to create model legislation
No prior experience required
Clear written instructions and mentorship provided
3-4 hours of work per state/territory
Deadline is December 20, 2021
To express interest in this project, please fill out the form on this page and select “Juvenile Solitary Confinement: Part 2” in the Projects field. In the “Questions / Comments” field, please provide an estimate of how many states/territories your attorneys will be able to take on.