Solitary confinement

==Legality==

The legality of solitary confinement has been frequently challenged over the past sixty years as conceptions surrounding the practice have changed.  Much of the legal discussion concerning solitary confinement has centered on whether or not it constitutes torture or [[cruel and unusual punishment]]. While [[international law]] has generally begun to discourage solitary confinement's use in penal institutions,<ref name=conley2013>{{cite journal |last=Conley |first=Anna |title=Torture in US Jails and Prisons: An Analysis of Solitary Confinement Under International Law |date=April 2013 |journal=Vienna J. On Int'l Const. Law |volume=7 |pages=415–453 |url=http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/vioincl7&section=52 |access-date=1 May 2014 |archive-date=26 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226171226/http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/vioincl7&section=52 |url-status=live }}</ref> opponents of solitary confinement have been less successful at challenging it within the [[United States legal system]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[United Nations Special Rapporteurs]] on Torture [[Manfred Nowak]] and [[Juan E. Méndez|Juan Méndez]] have "repeatedly and unequivocally stated that prolonged solitary confinement is cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and may amount to torture," though their statements are not primary sources in international law.<ref name=conley2013/>{{rp|427}} <!--In the years following the CAT, UN representatives "have publicly decried the use of solitary confinement as a violation of the CAT and ICCPR."<ref name=conley2013/>{{rp|426}} Weakly supported in source -- see edit summary.-->

A 2005 law journal article argued America's detention system is far below the basic minimum standards for treatment of prisoners under international law and has caused an international human rights concern: "U.S. solitary confinement practices contravene international treaty law, violate established international norms, and do not represent sound foreign policy."<ref name="vasiliades2005">{{cite journal |last=Vasiliades |first=Elizabeth |title=Solitary Confinement and International Human Rights: Why the US Prison System Fails Global Standards |journal=American University International Law Review |year=2005 |volume=21 |pages=71–101 |url=http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=auilr |format=PDF |access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=19 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819185552/http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=auilr |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Torture===

Solitary confinement is considered by many to be a form of [[psychological torture]] with measurable physiological effects, particularly when the period of confinement is longer than a few weeks or is continued indefinitely.<ref name="gawande9">{{cite magazine |last=Gawande |first=Atul |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande |title=Is long-term solitary confinement torture? |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-date=16 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716011332/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>
{{cite journal|author1=A. Vrca |author2= V. Bozikov |author3= Z. Brzović |author4= R. Fuchs |author5= M. Malinar |title=Visual evoked potentials in relation to factors of imprisonment in detention camps |date= September 1996 |journal=[[International Journal of Legal Medicine]] |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=114–117 |doi=10.1007/BF01369669|pmid= 8956983 |s2cid= 21450401 }}. This is the study of 57 Yugoslav POWs referenced in Atul Gawande's 2009 ''New Yorker'' article.</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Tracy|last=Hresko|url=http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=pilr|date=Spring 2006|title=In the Cellars of the Hollow Men|publisher=Pace International Law Review|access-date=13 March 2011|archive-date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901033804/http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=pilr|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Grassian2006"/>  

In October 2011, [[Juan E. Méndez]], then the [[United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]], called on all countries to eliminate the practice except in "very exceptional circumstances and for as short a time as possible," with a complete ban for juveniles and individuals with mental disabilities. "Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation," Méndez told the [[United Nations General Assembly Third Committee|General Assembly's Third Committee]], which deals with social, humanitarian, and cultural affairs. He continued: "Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to [[torture]] or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles."<ref name="un.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097|title=UN News - Solitary confinement should be banned in most cases, UN expert says|first=United Nations News Service|last=Section|date=18 October 2011|website=UN News Service Section|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624053501/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The United Nations [[Committee Against Torture]] cited the excessive use of solitary confinement in the United States as a violation of the [[United Nations Convention Against Torture|Convention Against Torture]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nambiar |first1=Sridevi |title=UN Committee on Torture Says U.S. Must Reform Its Use of Solitary Confinement |url=https://solitarywatch.org/2014/12/05/un-committee-against-torture-says-u-s-must-reform-its-use-of-solitary-confinement/ |publisher=Solitary Watch |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=5 December 2014}}</ref> The United Nations' [[Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners|Mandela Rules]], which were adopted in 2015 and establish minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners, prohibit placements in solitary beyond 15 consecutive days.<ref>{{cite web |title=The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners |url=https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/Nelson_Mandela_Rules-E-ebook.pdf |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=2015}}</ref> 

In ''Detention and Torture in South Africa: Psychological, Legal, and Historical Studies'', psychologist Don Foster lists solitary confinement as one of the most common forms of torture used on South African detainees.<ref name = foster/> "Given the full context of dependency, helplessness and social isolation common to conditions of South African security law detention," Foster writes, "there can be little doubt that solitary confinement under these circumstances should in itself be regarded as a form of torture."<ref name = foster>{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Don |title=Detention and Torture in South Africa: Psychological, Legal and Historical Studies |date=1 January 1987 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London, United Kingdom |page=136}}</ref>

===Ethics===

The harsh effects of solitary confinement on the individuals who experience it, particularly those diagnosed with mental illness, have led many to view the practice as cruel and [[Ethics|unethical]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Polizzi |first1=David |title=Solitary Confinement: Lived Experiences and Ethical Implications |date=2017 |publisher=Policy Press |location=Bristol, United Kingdom |isbn=9781447337539}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winters |first1=Ali |title=The Ethical Conflicts of Working in Solitary Confinement |journal=Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics |date=2019 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=18–27 |url=https://jswve.org/download/fall_2019_volume_16_no._2/articles/18-Ethical-conflicts-in-solitary-confinement-16-2-Fall-2019-JSWVE.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doshi |first1=Riya |title=An Ethical Analysis of Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons |journal=Scaffold: A Showcase of Vanderbilt First-Year Writing |date=Spring 2020 |volume=2 |url=https://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/index.php/UWS/article/view/4986/2785 |access-date=29 June 2023}}</ref> 

In an article for ''Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law'', Jeffrey Metzner and Jamie Fellner write that solitary confinement may constitute a violation of [[medical ethics]]. As the authors note, healthcare professionals are "ethically obligated to refrain from countenancing, condoning, participating in, or facilitating torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment," yet human rights experts have stated that solitary confinement may amount to such treatment. "It is not ethically defensible for health care professionals to acquiesce silently to conditions of confinement that inflict mental harm and violate human rights," they write.<ref name = metzner2010 />

Metzner and Fellner call on physicians not only to provide adequate medical services to individuals in isolation, but to advocate for changes to segregation policies in the facility in which they are employed and to undertake public advocacy to raise awareness of the harms of solitary in society as a whole.<ref name = metzner2010 />