by Aaron Lawson
Summary
In New York State, “nearly one-third of…prisoners in solitary confinement have been diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.”[1] Mentally ill prisoners fall into a vicious cycle where they are placed into solitary confinement because their mental illness limits their ability to conform to prison regulations. These inmates often find it difficult to “follow straightforward routine orders to sit down, to come out of a cell, to stand up for the count, to remove clothes from cell bars, or to take showers.”[2] As a result, mentally ill inmates are disproportionately and unjustly punished by placement in isolation. Solitary confinement then worsens their condition, resulting in more prison violations and a lengthier sentence.
A Washington Law Review article published this past June outlines the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act’s potential application in releasing mentally ill inmates from solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a disciplinary procedure that was originally used from the early 1700s to the late 1800s, and fell out of favor as it was mentally “too severe” and “immeasurably worse than any torture of the body.”[3] However, the 1980’s introduced super maximum security (“supermax”) prisons that are designed for indefinite solitary confinement.
Today there are an estimated 25,000 prisoners in supermax prisons. “Solitary confinement is linked to suicidal thoughts, impaired concentration, confusion, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations.”[4] Treatment options are limited by lack of access to health care professionals and group therapy sessions.
Despite these historical and medical findings, solitary confinement has not been considered an Eight Amendment violation. (However, the author notes a few exceptions for “Eighth Amendment challenges to solitary confinement for the mentally ill [in] class action suits.”)[5] Eighth Amendment claims require proving (1) subjective intent; (2) qualified immunity; and (3) subjective deliberate indifference, which the ADA and Section 504 have no such requirements:
“Disability discrimination claims against jails or prisons fall under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination by any ‘public entity.’ Public entities are defined as ‘any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or States or local government.’ In Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey, the Supreme Court confirmed that ‘[s]tate prisons fall squarely within the statutory definition of “public entity.”’ Federal prisons are not covered under the ADA, but are covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for the purposes of injunctive relief. Private prisons may be covered under both Title II and Title III, the title that prohibits discrimination in ‘public accommodations.’”[6]
Title II additionally requires that these prison services, programs, and activities be administered in “the most integrated setting appropriate.”[7] Because most facilities house a disproportionate number of mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement, this disparate impact alone may be enough to demonstrate a violation of the ADA.
However, disability rights claims have disadvantages as well. Prisons and jails may be able to claim solitary confinement is a “legitimate safety requirement” grounded in an “actual risk” in order to operate its “services, programs, or activities.”[8] In addition, solitary confinement may be justified if the inmate poses a “direct threat to the health and safety of others.”[9] Class certification is another challenge because a group of inmates’ individualized “mental illness” may not create a “common claim of discrimination and a common solution.”[10]
The author concludes by highlighting other measures both states and prison guard unions are taking to minimize the use of solitary confinement. Overall, the article provides a resourceful outline for expanding the ADA and Rehabilitation Act into prison reform.
[1] Jessica Knowles, “The Shameful Wall Of Exclusion”: How Solitary Confinement For Inmates With Mental Illness Violates The Americans With Disabilities Act, 90 Wash. L. Rev. 893, 896 (2015).
[2] Id. at 935.
[3] Id. at 899-902.
[4] Id. at 907.
[5] Id. at 912-14.
[6] Id. at 915-16.
[7] Id. at 935-36.
[8] Id. at 921.
[9] Id. at 921.
[10] Id. at 922.