News Articles & Posts (long)

Ending the Use of Isolation in Youth Detention and Correctional Facilities (CJCA Newsletter, July 2016)

Hear from Ned Loughran, Executive Director of the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, about the campaign at the work CJCA is doing to reduce the use of isolation.

New Mexico Mother Suing After Young Son Left in Solitary Confinement for 11 Months (KOBTV, July 2016)

“Parents understand their children.  They understand how much they require, how much attention they need, how their emotional support is almost entirely dependent on their family unit.  A child’s development requires socialization, interaction with adults and peers, hugs, kisses, praise, discipline and affection.  Imagine removing all of that from a child’s life for nearly a year.” Chris Ramirez, Mother suing after young son left in solitary confinement for 11 months, KOB.com, July 7, 2016.

Christian Cook suffers from with autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Rather than providing mental health treatment when held at the Curry County Juvenile Detention Center, medication, and special education, Christian was placed in isolation, despite expressing a desire to harm himself. Through attorney Matt Coyte, Christian’s mother is suing the county and the facility. Click here to read the complaint. The same facility was sued for abusive practices and isolation by another youth and settled for $450,000 in 2010.

Kalief Browder Learned How to Commit Suicide on Rikers (The New Yorker, June 2, 2016)

OJJDP Joins National Campaign To End Solitary Confinement of Youth (OJJDP News @ a Glance, May/June 2016)

What I Really Want for Father’s Day: Stop Solitary for Kids (Huffington Post, June 2016)

Casey Supports National Campaign to Stop Solitary for Kids (Annie E. Casey Foundation, May & July 2016)

This blog post by the Annie E. Casey Foundation discusses the harms of solitary confinement and the Foundation’s support for the Stop Solitary for Kids campaign. The Foundation discussed the campaign in a May blog mentioning youth advocate Daniel Mendoza.

Solitary Torture (Sojourners Magazine, May 2016)

This article, authored by Stop Solitary for Kids Advisory Board member Daniel Mendoza, describes his experience in solitary confinement.

Ex-Corrections Chief Calls For Ending Solitary For Youth (The Crime Report, May 2016)

Ned Loughran, Executive Director of the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators and former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, discusses the need to end solitary confinement for youth.

End Youth Solitary Confinement (Indy Star, May 2016)

This op-ed in the Indy Star by Christine Blessinger, Director of the Division of Youth Services for the Indiana Department of Correction, discusses the progress made in Indiana to reduce solitary confinement.

Ohio Leads the Way Against Juvenile Solitary Confinement (Circleville Herald, May 2016)

6×9: A Virtual Experience of Solitary Confinement (The Guardian, May 2016)

In May 2016, the Guardian announced a virtual reality experience of solitary confinement. Viewers can see and hear a 6-foot by 9-foot cell and listen to seven ex-inmates describe their experience and hear a 24-minute audio documentary.Click here to read more in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.

Stop Solitary for Kids (Huffington Post, April 2016)

This blog post is co-authored by Vincent Schiraldi, Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program in Criminal Justice & former head of NYC Probation & DC Juvenile Justice Agency, and Mark Soler, Executive Director of the Center for Children’s Law and Policy.

Solitary Confinement of Juveniles Disproportionately Impacts LGBTQ Youth (Human Rights Watch, April 2016)

The Short and Long Game on Ending Juvenile Solitary (Chronicle of Social Change, April 2016)

This article describes the national movement to end youth solitary and features an interview with Marc Schindler, Executive Director of the Justice Policy Institute.

Abandon Outdated Practice of Juvenile Seclusion: Harvey J. Reed (Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 2016)

This Op-Ed by the Director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services describes how the agency drastically reduced the use of solitary confinement while increasing facility safety. To read more about Ohio’s efforts to reduce solitary, click here.

It’s Time to End Juvenile Solitary Confinement, Once and For All (The Guardian, April 2016)

This article by U.S. Senator Cory Booker discusses the bi-partisan support behind the movement to end solitary confinement for youth.

Closing the Door on Solitary Confinement (National Conference of State Legislatures, April 2016)

This article by Anne Teigen and Sarah Brown in the NCSL magazine discusses the growing movement away from solitary confinement.

OJJDP Plans to Help States Eliminate Use of Solitary Confinement for Juveniles (JJIE, April 2016)

This article in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange describes the commitment of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to ending solitary confinement for youth. To read more about OJJDP’s position on solitary confinement, click here.

Solitary Confinement Is What Destroyed My Son, Grieving Mom Says (National Public Radio, April 2016)

This piece aired on NPR on April 18, 2016 and includes the story of Venida Browder. Venida Browder’s son, Kalief Browder, spent three years in Rikers Island jail in New York City – two of those years in solitary confinement – for allegedly stealing a backpack.  He was released in 2013 when prosecutors dropped the charge against him. Kalief committed suicide in 2015 after struggling with depression and trauma following his release from Rikers Island. President Obama cited Kalief’s case in banning solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody.

Stop Solitary for Kids Aims to Build on State, Federal Momentum (JJIE, April 2016)

This article covers the Stop Solitary for Kids launch event, including speakers U.S. Senator Cory Booker; Robert Listenbee, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and top youth correctional administrators from Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Oregon.

Stop Solitary for Kids (JJIE, April 2016)

This article in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange which describes the Stop Solitary for Kids campaign, is written by Marc Schindler, the Executive Director of the Justice Policy Institute. He has both sued and run correctional facilities for youth in the juvenile justice system.

Recent Wins in Juvenile Justice Provide New Advocacy Opportunities (Child Law Practice, March 2016)

This article describes how attorneys can apply recent national developments in juvenile justice to direct representation, including the President’s ban on solitary confinement in the federal system as well as the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on mandatory life sentences for youth in Montgomery v. Louisiana.

Ban on Solitary for Juveniles in Federal Prison Could Ignite State Reforms (JJIE, January 2016)

This article discusses how President Obama’s ban on solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons could inform state efforts to reform the use of solitary on youth.

Stop Solitary for Kids: A National Campaign for Change, December 2015 (JJIE, December 2015)

This article discusses the need for a coordinated national campaign to end solitary confinement that focuses specifically on youth.