'Everything Is at Stake if Norway Is Sentenced. In that Case, We Have Failed': Solitary Confinement and the 'Hard' Cases in the United States and Norway

UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 1(1)

U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 17-24

19 Pages Posted: 23 Aug 2017

See all articles by Laura L. Rovner

Laura L. Rovner

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Date Written: August 22, 2017

Abstract

While the harms caused by solitary confinement and its overuse in American prisons have gained increased recognition over the last decade, most states and the federal government maintain that extensive solitary confinement is both necessary and appropriate for those people deemed “the worst of the worst.” As a result, many of those who have been so labeled have languished in solitary confinement for years or even decades. With limited exceptions, they are there with the blessing of the federal courts, which have generally held that even very lengthy periods of solitary confinement do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments clause. In this Article, I examine a Norwegian court’s holding that Anders Behring Breivik’s long-term solitary confinement violates the European Convention on Human Rights to consider the lessons it holds for American Eighth Amendment conditions of confinement jurisprudence.

Suggested Citation

Rovner, Laura L., 'Everything Is at Stake if Norway Is Sentenced. In that Case, We Have Failed': Solitary Confinement and the 'Hard' Cases in the United States and Norway (August 22, 2017). UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 1(1), U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 17-24, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3024183

Laura L. Rovner (Contact Author)

University of Denver Sturm College of Law ( email )

2255 E. Evans Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
United States

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