Solitary Confinement

Buried alive prisoner artwork

AFSC

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment made up of long periods of isolation, with little or no human contact, often including lights on, or off, for 24 hours per day, deliberately loud sounds, extreme hot or cold, menacing dogs and other egregious violations of human rights.

We find the use of solitary confinement to be:

Pervasive – far overused and racially disparate
Illegal – a form of torture recognized and prohibited under international law
Harmful – to the mental health of those with and without pre-existing mental conditions

AFSC is concerned about the use of solitary confinement in the U.S and wants to see it abolished. Below are resources that explain the problems with solitary confinement and highlight our work.

The Lessons of Marion

Marion85

AFSC report from 1985 on the Failure of a Maximum Security Prison: A History and Analysis, with Voices of Prisoners

LessonsofMarion1985.pdf

Buried Alive: Solitary Confinement in Arizona’s Prisons and Jails

Buried alive prisoner artwork

A 2007 report by AFSC-Arizona staff Matthew Lowen and Caroline Isaacs on the use of long term solitary confinement in various correctional facilities in Arizona.

Buried Alive.pdf

Buried Alive: Long-Term Isolation in California Youth and Adult Prisons

Buried Alive cover

By Laura Magnani May 2008 AFSC publication, 22 pages. Report on California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation over-use and misuse of isolation units, with six recommendations for change.

Buried Alive PMRO May08 .pdf

The Prison Inside the Prison

The Prison in Prison Cover

Written in 2003, The Prison Inside the Prison looks at the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons.

PrisonInsideThePrison.pdf

Survivors Manual: Surviving In Solitary

survivors manual

A manual written by and for people living in control units.
Download (PDF)

A manual written by and for people living in control units.

You can also purpose a printed copy through the Friends General Conference Bookstore.

Survivors Manual.pdf

Torture In U.S. Prisons

Torture in US Prisons

Evidence of U.S. Human Rights Violations

Torture and abuse of prisoners in the United States stand in contrast to international treaties, conventions, and declarations that provide basic guidelines for the treatment of prisoners.

torture_in_us_prisons.pdf

Inalienable Rights

irights

Applying international human rights standards to the U.S. criminal justice system.

IRights57025.pdf

Private Prisons: The Public's Problem

az prison report cover

Download the complete report.

Listen to the press conference from the report's release.

A quality assessment of Arizona’s Private Prisons

Arizona has enthusiastically embraced prison privatization, with 13% of the state prison population housed in private facilities (the 11th highest percentage in the nation). Motivated by a belief that private enterprise could build and manage prisons safely and at lower cost than the state, the legislature has mandated construction of thousands of private prison beds. Little was done over the years to test actual performance of private prisons or to determine their cost effectiveness.

The complete report is 105 pages.

AFSC_Arizona_Prison_Report.pdf