Avery Journal - A recent study released by the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law claims that solitary confinement in prisons in North Carolina is a form of torture.
As social creatures, separation from other people has been shown to cause or exacerbate mental health problems. The report claims that up to 10 percent of North Carolina’s prison population is in long-term solitary confinement at any given time, which is a number higher than most states. The report also found that at least 21 percent of prisoners placed in solitary confinement require mental health treatment.
The issue has been given a higher profile with instances of inmate deaths due to neglect in solitary confinement, even dying of thirst.
The study also claims that solitary confinement is not only torture, but statistically ineffective in curbing violence and is costly to the state.
“The conclusion reached is stark and straightforward: solitary confinement is ineffective at decreasing violence within prisons; it is ineffective at preserving public safety; it is ineffective at managing scarce monetary resources; and it violates the boundaries of human dignity and justice. Present efforts to redress this injustice have been, thus far, largely ineffective. Laws and the courts that interpret them must evolve according to the growing body of research that demonstrates that solitary confinement violates basic constitutional and human rights,” the study concludes.
Instead of solitary confinement, the study suggests alternative forms of incarceration that involve more exercise and mental health treatment.
The study calls for the complete end of the practice, both as a prison sentence and a punishment within prison. It is particularly damning of the higher-than-average number of prisoners in solitary in North Carolina.
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