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Cierra Walton
Research Paper
Professor Dorhout
October 28, 2016

Solitary Confinement
Solitary Confinement is defined as 'the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as
punishment. This practice started in 1829, with the first experiment at Eastern State
Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The experiment was based off the Quaker belief that isolating a
prisoner would build character. Today there are about 80,000 inmates in and out of solitary
confinement a year. It was originally implemented in the United States as a way to keep
prison staff and the majority of the inmate population safe. It began as a positive move, but
it quickly turned negative. In order to choose to support or be against it you must know what
it is. Being confined to a windowless cell that is about the size of a parking space for 22-23
hours a day cannot be beneficial to inmates.
The intention of solitary confinement was not a bad idea; in some ways it was
helpful. The positive side is that it provides protection to prison staff and non-violent
inmates. It provides a safe place for inmates who are considered high risk, such as inmates
with gang affiliation and may become targets to other gangs. Solitary confinement also acts
as a discipline and suicide watch. A belief behind solitary confinement was that it could fix
character through rehabilitation.
Although solitary confinement was created with good intentions, the cons
completely contradict the pros. As a supporter of getting rid of this practice, let us begin by

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attacking the positive thinking of the facts behind it. Suicide is a concern, solitary
confinement is an excellent way to monitor suicide momentarily, but being place in small,
dark cells increases the risk of suicide when the opportunity presents itself. The inmate is
unable to commit suicide in the cell, but the thought of it is not diminished in any way,
supported by the study conducted in 1995. There are sixty-three percent of inmates that
committed suicide that year did is a few weeks within being released form solitary
confinement. Then there is discipline. Disciplining uncooperative or violent inmates is wellneeded but when it comes to solitary confinement, placement is loosely monitored. There
are disputable reasons for solitary confinement such as talking back to a guard or even
defending themselves against abuse or discrimination can get inmates placed in solitary
confinement. There are prisons in which the sole purpose is to isolate prisoners. These are
called Supermax prisons.
Supermax prisons, also known as Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX), are
high maximum facilities. They are funded by The Department of Justice, which is funded by
tax payers. Recent studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of supermax
prisons. Alcatraz, for example, was one of the most well-known prisons for its high security.
The development of supermax prisons came about in 1978 in Illinois when the prison
initiated a lockdown. They found that the results of the lockdown were lowered assaults on
guards and other inmates and things were a little more controlled and peaceful. In 1999,
there were a reported fifty-seven supermax prisons in the US. Tax payers have expressed
they do not want to pay for these facilities. The purpose of having so many facilities
dedicated to solitary confinement is a waste of money considering almost every prison has a

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'Special Housing Unit'(SHU), where they place inmate who are causing disturbances or
have attempted to escape.
Rehabilitation was another pro to solitary confinement. Quakers, a highly religious
Christian group, created the first prison meant to punish and rehabilitate. They believed locking
prisoners in a room with a Bible would fix the character and rehabilitate the person. This, for
one, violates the separation of church and state. Secondly there have been studies to test the
effectiveness of this method, but the studies show that it has the opposite effect. Rehabilitation
requires human interaction and sunlight. Therefore, not knowing what time of day it is makes a
prisoner question how he or she should be feeling, and it wears their body down because of their
internal clock is constantly questioning whether they should be tired or not. Also, nearly 60% of
people who were placed in long-term solitary confinement have suffered from mental illness and
post-partum disorder. These disorders include anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, aggression, and
depression. One inmate interviewed said, I was not suicidal; I was serving 7 years for robbery,
but being in that cell made me what to give up sometimes. Prisoners also agree that solitary
confinement is not part of a positive rehabilitation.
The 14th amendment protects basic human rights, and the 8th amendment protects against
cruel and unusual punishment. Both of these amendments have been argues that being in solitary
confinement is a violation of both amendments. Some people even go as far to say it is straight
out torture. Torture is defined as pain, whether physical or mental inflicted on a person
intentionally, and inmates in solitary confinement will speak out and tell the misinterpreted
conditions in solitary confinement. Chemical torture involving stun guns and stun grenades are
used, along with no touch torture. No touch torture consists of constant bright light shining in
the cell, extreme temperatures (hot and cold), and forced insomnia. These all lead to mental

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health issues, and to add insult to injury, these inmates do not get adequate health treatment,
physically or mentally. It is these punishments that lead to the U.N Committee Against Solitary
Confinement to look a little closer at these conditions and, although unsuccessful at getting rid of
it, they were able to prohibit mentally disabled and juvenile prisons from being placed in solitary
confinement. The 14th amendment is violated and $62,000 an inmate per year is very expensive
and that money could be used for something more purposeful or even to fund better SHU that are
already in prisons.
Opinions have been made and attention has been brought to the public about the
abolishment on solitary confinement. Political figures such as Obama have openly stated they do
not agree with some of the harsh conditions that come with solitary confinement. One person, in
particular, tried fighting these conditions, Leonie Brinkema. Judge Brinkema, a U.S. district
judge in Virginia, was one of the first to argue that some aspects of solitary confinement were a
violation the 14th amendment. Prisoners sentenced to death or on death row are automatically
placed in solitary confinement, which violates equal human rights. The 4th circuit, which is the
court of appeals, shot down her request for death row inmates to have the same rights as
everyone else, saying being on death row makes them a threat to the majorities safety. She was
influenced by the case Prieto vs. VA (2010), where Alfredo Prieto was convicted of triple murder
and sentenced to death. He requested not to be placed in solitary confinement due to the fact that
the murders were committed in 1988 and he was using drugs and drinking heavily at the time but
now was sober. When denied, he asked to just get the execution over with. Another major case
dealing with solitary confinement would be Wilkinson vs. Austin (2005), which led to a
requirement process to be placed in solitary confinement. They did not make it heavy, but a few
requirements were better than none.

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In conclusion, the cons out weigh the pros when it comes to solitary confinement. Even
political figures such as President Obama and Judge Brinkema fight to stop solitary confinement.
The court sees majority safety as the main goal of solitary confinement, but is the majority really
worth high suicide rates, mental disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, and people not being
able to get proper health and mental treatment?

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Work Cited
Breslow, Jason M. "What Does Solitary Confinement Do to Your Mind?" Frontline. PBS, 22 Apr.
2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Department of Justice. "Behavior Modification Programs: The Bureau of Prisons' Alternative to
Long Term Segregation." By the Comptroller General of the United States (1975): n.
page. United States General Accounting Office, 5 Aug. 1975. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Lawrence, Sarah, and Daniel P. Mears. Benefit-cost Analysis of Supermax Prisons: Critical Steps
and Considerations. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2004. Urban Institute Justice
Policy Center, Jan. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Mears, Daniel P. "Supermax Prisons." Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons (n.d.):
n. page. Urban Institute, Jan. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.