New York City makes prison reform history with the elimination of solitary confinement punishment for inmates under the age of 21.
For many years, the American Civil Liberties Union has been petitioning Congress to enact legislation that would put an end to segregated housing and solitary confinement in the country’s prisons. Their “Stop Solitary” campaign focused on educating policy makers about the psychological damage and excessive financial burden of the practice.
Years of lobbying have not gone in vain, as New York’s Board of Correction voted unanimously to cease the use of solitary confinement for young inmates under the age of 21. The policy change comes at a time when the city is facing charges of neglect and brutal treatment of Riker’s Island inmates by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.
The new policy is scheduled to take effect, January 2016.
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