For years, prison staff in Idaho were locking up inmates in “dry cells” with no beds to sleep in or toilets to dispose their waste. But on the same day California agreed to move 2,000 prisoners out of solitary confinement, Idaho announced that it will stop putting inmates in cells that have no mattresses, toilets, or sinks. It will also reevaluate its solitary confinement policies.
According to a lawsuit filed by prisoners and a mental health professional, inmates are thrown into dry cells for safety reasons, but also as a form of punishment for people with mental illnesses. In addition to roughly 515 beds in segregation units across the state, there are at least 11 dry cells in the state that have no beds at all. In response to concerns about the “harsh” conditions that contribute to sensory deprivation and exacerbate pre-existing mental health problems, the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) will refrain from putting inmates in the cells until they are equipped with mattresses, toilets, sinks, and water.
The use of dry cells to isolate inmates who are a threat to themselves or others, now considered inhumane by IDOC, echoes a national push to reduce the use of restrictive housing, also known as segregation or solitary confinement — which is often likened to torture. Directer Kevin Kempf says the policy shift will also help public safety down the line.
“Research is showing us that in many cases segregation doesn’t work and is causing more harm than good,” he said in a press release. “Knowing that 97 percent of all inmates will one day walk out of prisons and into our neighborhoods tells me we shouldn’t be adding to their risk of committing more crimes but rather doing everything we can to reduce this risk.”
Moving forward, facilities in the state will enforce strict guidelines for those who need to be placed in solitary and how to manage those inmates effectively.
“To some degree there will always be a need to temporarily isolate some inmates so they don’t hurt themselves or others, but we must not go overboard,” he continued. “We need to make sure we’re isolating the right inmate for the right period of time and under the right conditions.”
The changes come on the heels of a groundbreaking announcement that California will no longer throw inmates in solitary to minimize gang violence and will release thousands of inmates across the state, many of whom spent several decades with minimal contact with other people.
A new report from the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and Arthur Liman Public Interest Program found that 80,000 to 100,000 people held in U.S. prisons were relegated to restrictive housing in 2014. A 2015 survey conducted by the two organizations concluded that the amount of time inmates could spend out-of-cell varies by jurisdiction, from three to seven hours.
Extensive research details the long-term impacts that placement in restrictive housing has on individuals and society at large. Keeping prisoners separate from the general population for 23 hours or more fuels depression, hallucinations, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts. It causes physical damage to the brain by shrinking the region that controls memory and emotion. Isolated inmates are frequently neglected by prison staff who fail to bring food and water. They are also denied rehabilitative resources and services that people in the general prison population have access to. As a result, they are ill-equipped to reintegrate society upon their release, and are more likely to reoffend.