Submitted by CRIN on
[19 May 2014] -
US Attorney General Eric Holder has called for an end to "excessive" use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities, saying that the practice "can be dangerous, and a serious impediment to the ability of juveniles to succeed once released."
"At a minimum, we must work to curb the overreliance on seclusion of youth with disabilities," Holder said in a video message posted by the US Justice Department.
The Department of Justice has previously taken action against juvenile correctional facilities in the states of Ohio and California, and Holder said the Justice Department has received reports "of young people who have been held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, often with no human interaction at all." In some cases, Holder said, "children were held in small rooms with windows that were barely the width of their own hands."
Holder called these episodes "all too common" and said such isolation practices were seen as appropriate in "far too many" juvenile detention centers around the country.
“Let me be clear, there may be times when it becomes necessary to remove a detained juvenile from others in order to protect staff, other inmates, or the juvenile himself from harm," Holder said. "However, this action should be taken only in a limited way where there is a valid reason to do so, and for a limited amount of time; isolated juveniles must be closely monitored, and every attempt must be made to continue educational and mental health programming while the youth is in isolation."
Further information
Read the full text of the Attorney-General's statement
Read the Special Rapporteur on Torture's issue in focus report on solitary confinement.
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