Solitary Confinement (H 7481, S 2318)

In March and April, the ACLU gave testimony to the Senate and House Judiciary committees, respectively, in support of legislation limiting the use of solitary confinement. Long-term isolation is expensive, ineffective, and exacerbates mental illness even in inmates who had no known illness prior to entering isolation. States nationwide have begun to realize that other alternatives are more effective in protecting public safety - as the majority of inmates held in segregation will be released not only back into the general population, but released from prison entirely. Legislation would have allowed Rhode Island to join the tide of states finding other, more effective, alternatives to behavior correction behind prison walls. In May, the House Judiciary committee approved legislation by Representative Regunberg (H 8206 A) instead establishing a study commission to investigate the use of solitary confinement in Rhode Island, and potential alternatives.