Aiming to Reduce Time-in-Cell: Reports from Correctional Systems on the Numbers of Prisoners in Restricted Housing and on the Potential of Policy Changes to Bring About Reforms

127 Pages Posted: 1 Dec 2016 Last revised: 31 Oct 2018

See all articles by Judith Resnik

Judith Resnik

Yale University - Law School

Anna VanCleave

University of Connecticut - School of Law

Kristen Bell

Yale University - Law School

Olevia Boykin

Yale University, Law School, Students

Corey Guilmette

Yale University, Law School, Students

Tashiana Hudson

Yale University, Law School, Students

Diana Li

Yale University, Law School, Students

Joseph Meyers

Yale University, Law School, Students

Hava Mirell

Yale University, Law School, Students

Skylar Albertson

Independent

Alison Gifford

Yale University, Law School, Students

Jessica Purcell

Yale University, Law School, Students

Bonnie Posick

Yale University - Law School

Date Written: November 2016

Abstract

A new report, jointly authored by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Arthur Liman Program at Yale Law School, reflects a profound change in the national discussion about the use of what correctional officials call “restrictive housing” and what is popularly known as “solitary confinement.” Aiming to Reducing Time-In-Cell? provides the only current, comprehensive data on the use of restricted housing, in which individuals are held in their cells for 22 hours or more each day, and for 15 continuous days or more at a time. The Report also documents efforts across the country to reduce the number of people in restricted housing and to reform the conditions in which isolated prisoners are held in order to improve safety for prisoners, staff, and communities at large.

The 2016 Report is based on survey responses from 48 jurisdictions (the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands) that held about 96% of the nation’s prisoners convicted of a felony. That number excludes people held in most of the country’s jails (housing hundreds of thousands of people), in most of the country’s juvenile facilities, and in military and immigration facilities.

Tallying the responses, the new 2016 Report found that 67,442 prisoners were held, in the fall of 2015, in prison cells for 22 hours or more for 15 continuous days or more. The percentages of prisoners in restricted housing in federal and state prisons ranged from under 1% to more than 28%. Across all the jurisdictions, the median percentage of the prison population held in restricted housing was 5.1%.

How long do prisoners remain in isolation? Forty-one jurisdictions provided information about the length of stay for a total of more than 54,000 people in restricted housing. Approximately 15,725 (29%) were in restricted housing for one to three months; at the other end of the spectrum, almost 6,000 people (11%) across 31 jurisdictions had been in restricted housing for three years or more.

The Report also chronicles efforts throughout the country and the world to reduce the use of restricted housing. In August of 2016, the American Correctional Association (ACA) approved new standards, calling for a variety of limits on the use of isolation, including a prohibition against placing prisoners in restricted housing on the basis of their gender identity alone. The standards also included provisions that pregnant women, prisoners under the age of 18, and prisoners with serious mental illness ought not be placed for extended periods of time in restricted housing. Further, in some jurisdictions, prison systems (sometimes prompted by legislation and litigation) have instituted rules to prevent vulnerable populations from being housed in restricted housing except under exceptional circumstances and for as short an amount of time as possible.

As the Report also details, several jurisdictions described making significant revisions to the criteria for entry, so as to limit the use of restricted housing, as well as undertaking more frequent reviews to identify individuals to return to general population, thereby reducing the number of people in restricted housing by significant percentages.

In short, while restricted housing once was seen as central to prisoner management, by 2016 many prison directors and organizations such as ASCA and the ACA have defined restricted housing as a practice to use only when absolutely necessary and for only as long as absolutely required.

Suggested Citation

Resnik, Judith and VanCleave, Anna and Bell, Kristen and Boykin, Olevia and Guilmette, Corey and Hudson, Tashiana and Li, Diana and Meyers, Joseph and Mirell, Hava and Albertson, Skylar and Gifford, Alison and Purcell, Jessica and Posick, Bonnie, Aiming to Reduce Time-in-Cell: Reports from Correctional Systems on the Numbers of Prisoners in Restricted Housing and on the Potential of Policy Changes to Bring About Reforms (November 2016). Yale Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 597, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2874492 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2874492

Judith Resnik (Contact Author)

Yale University - Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States
203-432-1447 (Phone)
203-432-1719 (Fax)

Anna VanCleave

University of Connecticut - School of Law ( email )

Kristen Bell

Yale University - Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

Olevia Boykin

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Corey Guilmette

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Tashiana Hudson

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Diana Li

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Joseph Meyers

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Hava Mirell

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Skylar Albertson

Independent ( email )

Alison Gifford

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Jessica Purcell

Yale University, Law School, Students ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Bonnie Posick

Yale University - Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

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