Crimbrary

Solitary Use Declines in Some States, but for Some Inmates, It Lasts Three Years: Study
"The number of people in solitary confinement has decreased in more than two dozen states since 2013, but increased in 11 states, according to a new nationwide survey.

In the fourth of a series of research projects co-authored by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Arthur Liman Center at Yale Law School, researchers found that the criteria for placing people in solitary—also called 'restrictive housing'—had narrowed since the previous study published in 2013.

About a quarter of the jurisdictions responding to survey questions, found that nearly 27 per cent of inmates were placed in in restrictive housing for three months to a year. Some 3,721 people (9.1 percent of 41,061 people) were held for more than three years, and of that number, 1,950 were reported to have been in restrictive housing for more than six years.

Among the 33 jurisdictions reporting on race and ethnicity among male prisoners in the total custodial population and in restrictive housing, Black men comprised 46.1% of the male restrictive housing population, as compared to 42.5% of the total male custodial population in those jurisdictions."

Link to the Full-Text Study