A diverse range of lawyers, judges, faith community leaders, scholars, journalists, prisoner rights advocates and law enforcement professionals have called for limitations on the use of solitary confinement, and proposed safer, more humane, cost-effective alternatives. Below are links to more of the broad array of resources now available on this topic.
Standards & Resolutions
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) policy statement against the use of solitary confinement on individuals with mental illness
- The New York State Council of Churches resolution on solitary confinement
- Commissioner’s Resolution on Prolonged Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons, 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (2012)
- The Rabbinical Assembly, Resolution on Prison Conditions and Prisoner Isolation
- Statement Against Youth in Solitary by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- NRCAT Statement on Ending Prolonged Solitary Confinement in all 50 States
- ABA Criminal Justice Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners, approved by the ABA House of Delegates (Feb. 2010)
- Standards for mental health services in correctional facilities (2008), National Commission on Correctional Health (NCCHC)
- Position Statement 24: Seclusion and Restraints (Nov. 2010), Mental Health America (MHA)
- Resolution Regarding Extended Solitary Confinement and Torture, adopted Nov. 2010 by the Legislative Assembly, National Communication Association (NCA).
- American Psychiatric Association (APA) Position Statement on Segregation of Prisoners with Mental Illness (2012)
- The New York State Bar Association’s Resolution on Solitary Confinement and Report to the House of Delegates
Related Issues
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