People who are sent to prison in Connecticut may experience a wide range of conditions. This can happen in part due to the nature of the offense for which they are sentenced and the specific facility that they are sent to. Conduct that is witnessed in a prison setting may also contribute to some of an inmate’s experiences while there. For a long time, some people have been forced to be isolated in what is generally called solitary confinement but can also be referred to as administrative segregation or restrictive housing.
Either way, such treatment of a juvenile inmate is expressly illegal in Connecticut, thanks to a law that was signed into effect in 2017. However, a report issued recently by Connecticut Public Radio indicates that this law is not being adhered to in all cases. Some youth are still being isolated regardless of the stipulations that were part of the 2017 bill. This is one reason why a new bill has now been introduced into the state legislature that would ban solitary confinement for all inmates regardless of age.
A Linman report found that in the latter part of 2017, approximately 61,000 imprisoned people across the United States were in some form of restrictive housing or isolated confinement. Connecticut’s rate of such isolation at that time was 2.3% of the total inmate population, less than the national average but still problematic.
Many experts agree that this type of isolation may have significant and detrimental effects on the physical and psychological health of a person over the course of time.