Taylor Girard

Ms. Gardner

English 10 H/ Period 5

31 October 2017

Ending Solitary Confinement

Can you imagine living your life in a room the size of a parking space? That is the existence of

prisoners in solitary confinement. Those prisoners live completely alone. Those prisoners are denied full

access to necessities like showers and exercise. Those prisoners are at a higher risk of developing mental

illness or increasing the severity of previously existing mental illness. Ask yourselves how this could

possibly considered a humane punishment. My name is Taylor Girard, and I am a student at Casa Grande

High School. I learned of the atrocious nature of these punishments by chance, but my lack of personal

connection does not lessen my strong passion for the subject. So I request of you, the Bureau of Justice, to

look at our Constitution’s claim of no cruel and unusual punishment and ​see the clear contradiction that

this penalty has with prisoners’ basic civil rights.​ Solitary confinement is a violation of prisoners’

constitutional rights and its use should be reduced.

It is scientific fact that humans need social interaction. This point can be proven through studies

of Michael Zigmond, which are discussed in an article by Ramin Skibba, a science writer and former

astrophysicist. Skibba claims in this article that Zigmond, professor of Neurology at the University of

Pittsburgh, and his researchers found links between solitary confinement and PTSD symptoms and that

they “​saw a correlation between solitary confinement and suicide attempts,” and this is further shown

through studies of rats. Around 99% of genes in rats are shared with humans, so, considering this,

Zigmond found that portions of the brain “involved in learning, memory, perception and executive brain

functions” had less branches in isolated rats than in socializing rats. This confirms that social interaction

is a physical necessity.​ ​However, Skibba says that even animals are given rights to this need, as the
Animal Welfare Act requires social animals to be kept in groups. So, consider how we could give animals

this right, but not our fellow humans. Frankly, we should not.

Not only is it harmful, it is also not effective. According to Rick Raemisch, director of Colorado’s

Corrections Department, studies show that prisoners are more likely to reoffend if they are put into

solitary confinement. He also claims that solitary confinement is responsible for about half of all suicides

in prisons and that self-harm is far more likely in solitary prisoners. This correlation between solitary, self

harm and suicide clearly shows that this system is not working. Leaving prisoners alone with their

demons in the darkness will not get them anywhere. And with prisoners being put into solitary

confinement for almost any reason, from talking back to an officer to smuggling drugs, these bad results

are just going to increase, costing taxpayers more, raising rates mental illness among prisoners, and

expanding the amount of parolees that will return to prison, affecting more than just the prisoners.

Now I understand the argument that these people are just prisoners, that they deserve it for what

they have done. However, the effects of solitary confinement can persist even after they have served their

sentence and been punished for their actions. Simply creating laws to restrict the amount of time that one

can be sentenced to solitary can have a large effect on prisoners’ mental health, both while in prison and

after release. I am not asking you to give them the luxury life of Zeus, but to give them the ability to be

healthy after they have compensated for their actions. In an article by Keramet Reiter, Assistant Professor

of Criminology at UC Irvine, she discusses death of Kalief Browder, a twenty-two year old who

committed suicide after his release from prison. He was only sixteen when he was arrested, and he was in

prison for three years, two of which were in solitary confinement. His charges were dropped and he was

released, and hanged himself in 2015 after multiple suicide attempts. He told CNN in 2013, “Prior to

going to jail, I never had any mental illness.” Prisoners should not have to continue to suffer after their

debts to society have already been paid.

 These prisoners may be left alone without help, but with help they will no longer have to be

alone. This punishment is obviously cruel, ineffective, and has long-lasting effects on its victims. This

must not go on any longer. Just merely considering this cruel discipline and talking it over with your peers

can reveal the atrocities that are hidden behind those concrete doors and aid in the creation of restrictive

laws to help its forgotten victims. To prevent cruelty, we just need to listen to our compassion, and to help

those stuck in silence, we just need to speak.

785 Words
 Works Cited

Raemisch, Rick. "Putting an End to Long-Term Solitary." New York Times,

13 Oct, 2017, pp. A.25, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Reiter, Keramet. "On the Edge of Humane." Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct, 2016, pp. A.11,

SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Skibba, Ramin. "Solitary Confinement Makes Prisoners Behave Badly and Screws Up.."

Newsweek, Apr, 2017, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.