This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement:
A recent investigation revealed that children incarcerated at the Youth Justice and Education Center in Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee, are being held in solitary confinement for months at a time. For eight months, one young person was isolated in a concrete cell less than half the size of a parking space for up to 71 hours at a time with no school, fresh air, or time with other people. County records show a 16 percent increase in suicide crisis calls at the detention facility. Additional records show that both the county’s juvenile court and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services are aware of the center’s use of solitary confinement, but have made no attempt to bring the unit into compliance with state law. MLK50
A federal court has ordered officials at the Mary Davis Detention Home (MDH) in Galesburg, Illinois, to stop subjecting young people to abusive, extended solitary confinement. The court also ordered MDH to develop a plan within 30 days for emergency health intervention for young people identified as being at risk for self-harm. This ruling comes from ongoing litigation challenging the conditions at MDH, where children as young as 11 years old await sentencing. “The youth we represented at MDH spent days, weeks, and even months at a time in solitary confinement,” said Kevin Fee, Legal Director at the ACLU of Illinois. ACLU of Illinois | The ruling makes clear that young people cannot be placed in solitary confinement and must instead receive prompt, appropriate care. “Like the Mary Davis Home, other facilities should take care to ensure that young people are not forced to spend long periods of time in a concrete box. The consensus is clear: this practice causes immense and lasting harm to young people and has no place in Illinois,” Fee said. Tri States Public Radio…