SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A federal court agreement severely restricting the use of solitary confinement on juvenile offenders in state lockups will ease the debilitating mental effects of such punishment, an advocacy group at the center of a lawsuit against the state said Monday.
The teenage inmates who are put in locked rooms by themselves at any given time will have to have interaction with staff, a book to read, and receive mental health treatment under terms of the agreement the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice signed with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a federal class-action lawsuit to stop the practice.
The lawsuit’s lead lawyer, Adam Schwartz, said the rules effectively banish the use of solitary confinement in the state’s six juvenile detention centers.
Youths will have a minimum of eight hours away from isolation if they are confined for a day or longer, Schwartz said.
“During that eight hours, they have the opportunity to talk to and be in the company of staff,” he said. They’ll also be able to get mental health treatment, education and exercise during the break.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in September 2012, pointing to research that shows prolonged lack of human interaction can be emotionally damaging, especially to those with mental illness, and increases the risk of suicide.
Juvenile Justice Department spokesman Mike Theodore would not comment on the agreement except to say that it establishes a “policy we know for sure that is in compliance with the law.”
In Illinois, youthful lawbreakers - about 700 currently - aged 13 to 20 are confined to juvenile detention centers until they reach the maximum age allowed at the center, are transferred to an adult prison or are sent home after their sentence ends.
Youth prison residents placed in solitary confinement are housed away from the rest of the population in a separate wing. Meals are eaten inside of the rooms. Prisoners in solitary confinement would be denied access to personal possessions, treatment programs and contact with other people for hours.
A panel of experts that studied Illinois youth detention centers released a report last year that showed prisoners sometimes were placed in solitary confinement for up to 22 hours a day.
In a Monday statement, Schwartz said “ending solitary confinement is a mark of a forward-thinking agency.”
Jennifer Vollen Katz of the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, said the decision to end extended solitary isolation was a “huge step in the right direction.”
“The research we’ve seen shows that it’s not effective as a behavioral deterrent and it more often has the negative impact of causing emotional distress,” said Katz.
Solitary confinement will be permitted in some cases if detainees are deemed a threat to themselves or others. But they usually must be released after 24 hours.
Court filings show Judge Matthew Kennelly gave his OK in late April. Court-appointed monitors will oversee implementation.
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