Washington Corrections Center, a prison in Shelton, Washington. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
Washington’s Department of Corrections pledged to end solitary confinement as a punishment in 2021 — but isolation is still widely used across state prisons for what the agency calls “administrative” purposes.
That’s according to a 400-page June report from the Office of the Corrections Ombuds, the independent investigations office for the Department of Corrections. The report was requested by state lawmakers, who are considering ways to reduce or end solitary confinement.
The report found over 3,000 currently incarcerated individuals in state prisons who had served more than 120 days in solitary confinement or were held in solitary for more than 45 days from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. About 200 of those individuals were over 60 years old, the report found. Some people are in solitary confinement for years, said Angee Schrader, a senior corrections ombuds.
During that time period, there were 13,538 people in prison, according to Office of Financial Management data.