On Tuesday, June 19th,
the Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights held
the first-ever hearing on solitary confinement. Presided over by Senate
Majority Whip and Subcommittee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL), "Reassessing
Solitary Confinement: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety
Consequences" investigated the psychological and mental
impact of solitary confinement on inmates during their imprisonment and after
their release. More specifically, the hearing highlighted the human rights abuses
faced by prisoners in solitary confinement as well as state reforms that have
been undertaken in an attempt to improve prisoners’ living conditions.
The United States incarcerates more individuals than any
other democracy in the world. With less than 5% of the world’s population, the
U.S. is home to almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Statistics from the International
Center for Prison Studies at King’s College London show
that the U.S. has nearly 2.3 million people behind bars. Although many
prisoners are subject to various degrees of safety risks during their
incarceration, LGBT prisoners in particular face an even greater threat. In
fact, 67% of LGBT prisoners in California alone have been assaulted while in
prison, as reported by Just Detention International (JDI),
the only organization in the U.S. with the sole goal of ending sexual abuse in
detention facilities. As a result, many LGBT persons are placed in solitary
confinement as a means of “involuntary protective custody.”
The economic costs of placing a prisoner in solitary
confinement are expansive. A July 2011 Advocacy Toolkit prepared by the ACLU
National Prison Project showed that the annual cost of placing an
individual in solitary confinement in the state of Arizona in 2007 was
approximately $50,000 per year compared to only about $20,000 per year for the
average prisoner. “In Maryland, the cost of housing a prisoner in the state’s
segregation units is on average three times greater than a general population
facility; in Ohio it is twice as much and in Texas the costs are 45% greater.”
With statistics as shocking as these, it comes as no surprise
that—as the parents and friends of LGBT individuals—this hearing was so groundbreaking.
Not only is solitary confinement taking a toll on our nation’s economy, it is taking
a major toll on our morale as well. This
was best illustrated by Anthony Graves’ testimony, in which he recounted his story
of spending 18 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, 10 of
which were on death row in solitary confinement. Now a criminal justice reform
advocate and founder of Anthony Believes, Graves
detailed the dehumanizing treatment of prisoners and the “degrading” conditions
of his living environment while in solitary confinement, conditions that “break
a man’s will to survive.” By the end of his account, Graves’ words had new
meaning: “Solitary confinement makes our criminal justice system criminal.”
Take Action: Congress
must act as quickly as possible to protect both LGBT and straight inmates from
the injustices they often face if placed in solitary confinement. Yesterday’s
hearing was a monumental first step in accomplishing this goal but the fight is
not over. Please take action now and express your
concerns about solitary confinement to your members of Congress. With your
help, Chairman Durbin may just be able to garner enough support to draft
legislation that would force the Federal Bureau of Prisons to change its attitude
regarding solitary confinement’s pitfalls. After all, as Chairman
Durbin pointed out in his opening statement, “America leads the fight for human
rights throughout the world.” It is time
to alter the way our country treats its prisoners so that such practices align
with our national values. Let’s make it happen.
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