The United States wields solitary confinement against Afro-descendent people in municipal jails, state and federal prisons, immigration detention centers, and care settings for foster youth, causing devastating mental, physical, and emotional harm. More than a third (33%) of people held in solitary confinement become psychotic and/or suicidal within the first 15 days, and people who have been subjected to solitary confinement are 78% more likely to commit suicide within a year of being released from prison. The severe suffering caused by solitary confinement can amount to torture as defined under international law.

Alongside grassroots partners, RFK Human Rights delivered this written submission to the United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) in preparation for its 2023 tour of the United States. The submission details abusive solitary confinement practices against Black people in four jurisdictions in the United States: California, New York, Louisiana, and Minnesota.

In May 2023, EMLER visited Minnesota to hear testimony from survivors of solitary confinement in a roundtable organized by RFK Human Rights and partners, including Atlas of Blackness, which testified on the harms of juvenile solitary confinement. The following month, the Minnesota legislature banned juvenile solitary confinement, in line with the EMLER report’s urging that “solitary confinement shall never be imposed upon children.”

What solutions exist?

The federal government and states can enact bans on all uses of solitary confinement, except for periods measured in minutes or hours for emergency de-escalation. They can prohibit the use of solitary confinement 1) as a punishment, 2) indefinitely or for a prolonged period, and 3) for pregnant people, people with mental disabilities, or juveniles.

Legislators can also mandate public data reporting on solitary confinement for all local, state, and federal prisons, jails, youth treatment centers, and immigration detention centers. At a minimum, data should be disaggregated by race, gender, age, reason for placement in solitary, and length of time in solitary. Legislation should include a right of action to sue for enforcement of public data requirements.

How can I get involved?

Read this submission to learn how solitary confinement is abused in the United States.

Join and support an organization near you that is working to end immigration detention. 

September 26, 2023

EMLER Report to the UN Human Rights Council on visit to the United States

June 1, 2023

Proposed Recommendations to the United States of America: Follow-up to Presentation to EMLER on May 2 in Minneapolis

February 24, 2023

Submission to the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER)