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National Interfaith Coalition Joins Groups Calling on Holder to Ban Solitary Confinement of Youth in Federal Custody

Washington, D.C. – This week, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, a vocal opponent of the highly controversial practice of subjecting youth to solitary confinement in prisons across the United States, joined more than three dozen representatives from criminal and juvenile justice reform advocacy and faith-based organizations, in submitting a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, calling for the Department of Justice to adopt policies prohibiting the solitary confinement of youth in federal custody. The coalition of organizations asserted its belief that “the use of solitary confinement on youth must end,” stating that placing youth in solitary confinement is “not only cruel, but counterproductive for both rehabilitation and facility security. … Both law and the science of adolescent development recognize the need to treat juveniles differently from adults in the context of punishment and rehabilitation.”

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture issued its support today for the letter calling for the ban on youth solitary confinement in federal prisons, spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union. The letter follows the statement below. Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, issued this statement:

All the major faith traditions that comprise our national campaign share a call to protect the well-being of future generations. We recognize that the solitary confinement of youth denies the essential human need for community, severely disrupts the psychological and social development of youth, and is associated with high rates of suicide and serious mental health problems.

Because youth are still developing mentally and physically, traumatic experiences like solitary confinement can exacerbate, or create, short and long-term mental health problems. The most common deprivation that accompanies solitary confinement, denial of physical exercise, is physically harmful to adolescents’ health and well-being. A number of bills have recently been introduced in states including Montana, Florida, California and Texas to address the destructive practice of juvenile solitary confinement. This indicates the high level of national concern to see this practice brought to an end.

As we join our colleagues in the call to ban the solitary confinement of youth in federal custody, we recognize that momentum to halt the use of prolonged solitary confinement in U.S. prisons continues to build nationally, with the first-ever Congressional hearing on the use of prolonged solitary confinement convened by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin in 2012. Following the hearing, in February of this year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons agreed to the first ever independent and comprehensive assessment of its use of prolonged solitary confinement in U.S. federal prisons. People of faith are eager to see Attorney General Holder take the lead in responding to this national crisis for youth in federal custody by bringing a halt to the destructive practice of the solitary confinement of youth.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture advocates for eliminating the use of prolonged solitary confinement in U.S. federal and state prisons. More information on NRCAT’s work in the field of solitary confinement is available at www.nrcat.org, as is the organization’s short documentary film on solitary confinement. Regarding NRCAT’s success at the state level, in 2010, NRCAT partnered with a diverse coalition of organizations in Maine to push for the successful passage of a resolve by the state legislature requiring the Department of Corrections to review its solitary confinement policies and procedures. As a result of the review and its recommendations, the solitary confinement population in Maine has been reduced by more than 70 percent.

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