Justice
How Solitary Confinement Will Be Overhauled in New York Prisons
A groundbreaking court settlement will drastically change prison practices in New York—and get more than 1,000 inmates out of the hole.
These six bars from the often-incarcerated Yonkers rapper DMX, from his song “Who We Be,” are perhaps the must succinct verses ever written about solitary confinement:
Still, even DMX, who’s no stranger to solitary confinement, could never capture in words all of the horrors of being trapped in those tiny cells. But far fewer inmates will have to suffer this punishment in New York prisons now, thanks to a 2012 lawsuit won by the New York Civil Liberties Union. That lawsuit has led to new prison reforms announced Wednesday by the NYCLU, including a system-wide overhaul of its use of solitary confinement. This will also free roughly 1,100 from the isolation chambers where they are currently held.