Solitary Confinement: Ending the Over-Use of Extreme Isolation in Prison and Jail | A Report on a Colloquium to Further a National Consensus
On September 30, 2015, with support from the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, John Jay College of Criminal Justice convened a colloquium including 15 corrections agency heads along with attorneys, academics, and experts from the community of those seeking to reform the use of social isolation, often called “solitary confinement,” in U.S. prisons and jails. The gathering provided a first opportunity for many to meet with those they might previously have considered policy adversaries, to determine if consensus might be achievable about ways to reform the use of social isolation by coming to common agreement rather than resorting to litigation. The report ends with 24 specific recommendations that emerged from several clear themes in the deliberations.