Obama bans solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons
"It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced
ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior,"
Obama wrote in an op-ed posted Monday evening on The Washington Post's
website. "Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental
illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more
likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental
illnesses."
Obama asked the Justice Department to review the use of solitary
confinement last summer, as part of the administration's increased focus
on the criminal justice system. Activists have been pushing for changes
to the prison system.
The department review yielded a series of
recommendations and 50 "guiding principles," which officials said would
aim to ensure solitary confinement was an increasingly rare punishment
used as an option of last resort when inmates posed a danger to staff,
other inmates or themselves.
The changes would also expand treatment for the
mentally ill and ensure that inmates in solitary can spend more time
outside their cells. Obama said the reforms would affect roughly 10,000
inmates in the federal system. Roughly 100,000 people are in solitary
confinement in the U.S., he said, adding that he hoped the changes would
serve as a model for reforms at the state level.
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