ACLU Calls for Ban on Solitary Confinement in Juvenile Facilities

In this article, Gary Gately discusses the national debate on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile detention facilities. Several juvenile justice experts have spoken out about the negative effects that isolation can have on youth who are still developing psychologically and physically.

In this article, Gary Gately discusses the national debate on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile detention facilities. Several juvenile justice experts have spoken out about the negative effects that isolation can have on youth who are still developing psychologically and physically. A recent ACLU report titled “Alone & Afraid: Children Held in Solitary Confinement and Isolation in Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facilities” condemns the routine use of solitary confinement in the roughly 70,000 juvenile detention facilities across the United States. The debate has also been connected to international human rights standards. Juan Mendez, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, has called for a global ban of the use of solitary confinement for children and a limit of 15 days in solitary for adults.