WATCHSCHEDULECONNECTTOPICSABOUTSHOPTEACHER CENTER
FRONTLINE > Criminal Justice > Locked Up In America >
How Much Time U.S. Prisoners Spend in Solitary
Follow @WmRockwoodApril 22, 2014, 9:53 pm ET by Bill Rockwood Evan Wexler and Sarah Childress
E-Mail This Tweet
The United States is alone among Western nations in its widespread use of solitary confinement in prison — what mental-health experts define as keeping an inmate locked down for 22 hours a day or more in a cell, with limited contact with others.
Most corrections officials don't call it solitary. They refer instead to punitive segregation, which typically has a time limit, usually 30 days or less, for violating prison rules — and administrative segregation, also known as restricted housing or special housing units. "Ad seg" is used to isolate gang members or those with a history of assaulting others, but often those in protective custody or with mental-health problems, and in some states, juveniles, end up there, too. Stays typically start at 30 days but can last indefinitely. If inmates continue to misbehave in isolation, their punishment is typically more seg time.
With additional reporting by Samantha Gillis
5 Years, 1 month
Any period of isolation longer than 15 days should be considered abusive, according to Juan Méndez, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture. For juveniles and people with mental illnesses, solitary confinement "always constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and even torture when applied to these categories." Méndez has called for a ban on prolonged or indefinite confinement.
At least 46 states use some form of administrative segregation, which is confinement that typically lasts at least 30 days, but can last indefinitely.
In New York state, some inmates spent an average of five months in "extreme isolation cells" during a three-year period from 2007 to 2011, according to a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Officials issued more than 68,100 sentences for violating prison rules during that time. In February 2014, New York agreed to broad reforms to scale back its use of solitary, including banning its use for juveniles and pregnant women. Under the deal, the state will also impose sentencing guidelines for all prisoners, for the first time with a maximum time limit.
Inmates sentenced to solitary in Colorado spend an average of 23 months there, and are often released directly from "ad seg" to the streets. In 2013, Tom Clements, the head of the corrections department who had worked to reform the practice, was murdered at his home by a former inmate who'd recently been released from solitary. In February, Clements' successor Rick Raemisch spent a night in solitary, and said in a recent New York Times op-ed that he was committed to continuing those reforms. "...[D]oing anything less would be both counterproductive and inhumane," he wrote.
Bobby Dellelo was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the shooting death of Boston detective George Holmes in 1963. He escaped from prison and was recaptured and sentenced to time in solitary, where he spent more than five concurrent years in a cell he would later describe as "12 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 10 feet high." He was confined alone in his cell for a minimum of 23 hours a day but was allowed a radio and television, which he claimed would talk to him. "Static wasn't just static," he told the Boston Globe. "It was speaking a language. It was speaking to me."
An estimated 25 percent of the population at Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois -- a supermax prison built to hold the "worst of the worst" -- spent 22 to 24 hours a day in isolation for more than 10 years, before the prison closed in 2013 due to budget cuts.
Nearly 80 prisoners have been in the security housing units, where inmates are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, for more than two decades in California's Pelican Bay State Prison, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights. California has been working to reform its policies on segregation by court order. In April 2014, in response to a lawsuit filed by several inmates, a federal judge ruled that California's practice of placing seriously mentally ill inmates in segregation for extended periods "can and does cause serious psychological harm" and violates the 8th Amendment. He also ordered that inmates should not be held in administrative segregation for longer than 72 hours for non-punitive reasons.
Thomas Silverstein has been held in solitary confinement since he stabbed prison guard Merle Clutts to death at Marion State Penitentiary in 1983. The murder, which Silverstein plotted for months, helped lead to a prison-wide lockdown that would become the foundation for modern high-security facilities. Silverstein has since been transferred to ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison in Colorado, where he is serving life without parole for killing Clutts and two prison inmates years earlier.
Herman Wallace was serving a 50-year sentence for armed robbery when he was convicted, along with fellow inmate Albert Woodfox, for the murder of a prison guard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1972. They maintained their innocence and with another African-American inmate, they became known as the "Angola Three." Wallace spent 41 years in solitary confinement. In 2013 his conviction was overturned on the grounds that he'd been denied a fair trial and was released. He died three days later. Woodfox's conviction has also been overturned but the government is fighting to reinstate it. Woodfox is now in his 42nd year in solitary.
October 1, 2015 / 4:09 pmSenators Seek to Curb Federal Prison Sentences for Drug Crimes
September 1, 2015 / 7:39 pmCalifornia Agrees to Overhaul Solitary Confinement in Prisons
June 15, 2015 / 10:16 amLocked Up In America: Stephen's Story
June 8, 2015 / 2:18 pmLocked Up In America: Christel's Story
In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. By submitting comments here, you are consenting to these rules:
Readers' comments that include profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, harassment, or are defamatory, sexist, racist, violate a third party's right to privacy, or are otherwise inappropriate, will be removed. Entries that are unsigned or are "signed" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. We reserve the right to not post comments that are more than 400 words. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. You are fully responsible for your comments.
Supporting Investigative Reporting
Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation, the John and Helen Glessner Family Trust, the Ford Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation.
FRONTLINE Watch FRONTLINE About FRONTLINE Contact FRONTLINE
Privacy Policy Journalistic Guidelines PBS Privacy Policy PBS Terms of Use Corporate Sponsorship
FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation.
Web Site Copyright ©1995-2016 WGBH Educational Foundation
PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.