Solitary Confinement In Prison

The punishment of prolonged solitary confinement, a rampant practice in American penitentiary institutions, is a form of psychological torture and violates subjected inmates’ 8th Amendment rights. The American prison system was first established as a rehabilitative asylum but has devolved into a degrading institution in which human rights are regularly violated. In order to secure just and humane treatment of inmates within the penal system, prolonged solitary confinement must be abandoned.
In solitary confinement, most commonly known within in the penal system as segregation or restrictive housing, prisoners are involuntarily committed into complete social isolation as a means of controlling the inmate population. Prisoners placed in solitary …show more content…
Disciplinary solitary confinement is a temporary punishment for disruptive behavior and thus is assigned for a specified period of time. Prisoners are relocated from the general population to restrictive housing for disorderly or violent conduct, such as attacks or threats against a prison guard, possessing contraband, drug use, membership in a belligerent gang, and/or for violent acts or theft against fellow inmates.
Another cause of solitary confinement is administrative discretion. In cases where the severity of the crimes committed or the behavior of an inmate while previously incarcerated poses a threat to the general prison population, the administration may force such an inmate into an isolated housing situation. Administrative solitary confinement occurs most frequently in high security “supermax” prisons and generally accounts for the longest amount of time served in restrictive housing units as sentencing is usually …show more content…
The amendment explicitly states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted14.” Today the 8th Amendment is applied according to two principles, evolving decency and proportionality. Evolving decency refers to the maturing American moral conscious and determining if a punishment is no longer ethical under current standards. Proportionality is whether the penalty has a weight appropriate to the crime committed. Solitary confinement is neither a proportional punishment, especially since it is so often senteneted indefinitely, without provocation, nor does it meet the evolving decency standard as psychological torture is internationally