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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Do some states allow incarcerated minors to be held in solitary confinement?

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

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YES

In 2016, President Barack Obama banned solitary confinement for minors in federal prisons, but as of 2020 states including Florida, Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi still allowed the practice.

The District of Columbia and 18 states have passed laws limiting or prohibiting solitary confinement of minors, while other states have limited its use through administrative code, policy or court rules.

Solitary confinement is defined under United Nations rules as spending at least 22 or more hours of the day in isolation. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology has linked the practice to higher rates of suicide and potential consequences such as depression and psychosis.

Overall, the number of incarcerated youths in the U.S. has fallen 60% since 2000, reflecting a variety of factors including lower juvenile crime rates and policy responses to evidence about the system’s results.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

National Conference of State Legislatures States that limit solitary confinement

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology Solitary confinement of juveniles

UN Human Rights Prolonged solitary confinement amounts to psychological torture

Prison Policy Initiative Youth confinement: The whole pie 2019

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.