Lonely Too Long: Redefining and Reforming Juvenile Solitary Confinement

Abstract

Solitary confinement is a frequently used penal tool in all fifty states against all types of offenders. However, since its development in the 1800s, solitary confinement has been found to have damaging psychological effects. Juvenile inmates suffer the greatest psychological damage because of the developmental state of their brains. This has led many to propose various reforms that would either end or limit the use of solitary confinement for those under the age of eighteen. However, new neurological studies on brain development show that there is a gap in the group of inmates that these reforms are targeting. Pulling from these new neurological studies, this Note proposes federal legislation that would limit the use of solitary confinement for inmates under the age of twenty-five.