Solitary Confinement Refers Tothe Disciplinary Practice of Confining Inmates by Themselves

Essay

Solitary confinement refers tothe disciplinary practice of confining inmates by themselves in small cells for more than twenty-twohours each day over the course of weeks, months, or even years. These inmates are not sentenced tosolitary confinement by a judge, and for most of them, the assignment has noconnection with their original offense. Rather, solitary confinement is most commonly used as punishment by a correctional administrator for disciplinary infractions such as failure toobey an order given by a prison official. At present, you have been recently appointed as the Attorney General of the state of West Virginia. Due tothree recent federal lawsuits against your state for human rights violations suffered by inmates in solitary confinement in state correctional facilities, your state senate judicial committee has asked you tocreate some new policies regarding the appropriate usage of solitary confinement. In your policies, you must include safeguards toprotect those inmates whomay end up receiving this disciplinary action. Please outline your policies and safeguards which you seek torecommend toyour state senate judicial committee.