Ohio to “Dramatically Reduce” Solitary Confinement for Young Inmates

Ohio has taken a major step in curbing the use of solitary
confinement for a group of people who don’t need to be there:
juveniles.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio’s Department of Youth
Services
has reached a settlement with the federal government to
“dramatically reduce, and eventually eliminate” the use of
isolation for young inmates. The settlement stems from a 2007
Justice Department investigation that found Ohio’s youth prisons
frequently use long-term solitary confinement, especially for
prisoners with mental illness.

Over the last fifteen years, states have come under increasing
pressure to restrict or abolish the practice of what is
euphemistically called ‘disciplinary seclusion.’ The Prison Rape
Elimination Act of 2003, recent pressure
from Attorney General Eric Holder, devastating
reports from the American Civil Liberties Union, and a
congressional hearing called by senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) have
brought much-needed attention to an issue that remains behind
prison walls, obscured from public view.

Ohio joins seven other states – Maine, Connecticut, West
Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Alaska – restricting
the use of solitary confinement for inmates under the age of
18.

As this 2013 ReasonTV investigation shows, tens of thousands of
juveniles end up in solitary confinement every year, not as
punishment, but “for their own protection.” A practice that was
once reserved for the most violent inmates has become a routine
approach to inmate security in correctional facilities that house
juveniles together with adults.