California Passes Legislation to Limit Solitary for Youth

In April 2016, California Senator Mark Leno introduced SB 1143, legislation to ban the use of room confinement for the purposes of punishment, coercion, convenience, or retaliation and to limit its use to situations where  less restrictive options have been tried. In August 2016, the California State Legislature passed SB 1143. Governor Brown signed the bill into law on September 27, 2016.

Co-sponsored by the Chief Probation Officers of California, human rights advocates, experts on youth rehabilitation, and faith leaders, this bill represents a multi-year effort in California. The California Attorney General Kamala Harris supports the bill, stating that isolation for youth “undermines the goal of helping this vulnerable population become healthy and productive members of society.”  Click here to read more from the LA Times Editorial Board.

SB 1143 provides a uniform definition of “room confinement” as the placement of a youth in a sleeping room or cell alone with minimal contact from facility staff. In addition, the bill requires that room confinement is limited to four hours generally, can only be used after all less restrictive options have been exhausted and cannot be used to the extent that it compromises the mental and physical health of the youth.