Target: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Goal: Applaud the passing of sweeping restrictions on the use of solitary confinement for juvenile detainees in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved sweeping restrictions on the use of solitary confinement for juvenile detainees thanks in part to petitions like ForceChange’s Ban Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons. The restrictions ban solitary confinement except “as a temporary response to behavior that poses a serious and immediate risk of physical harm to any person.”
Prior to these restrictions, solitary confinement was used widely in the county. Some reports showed nearly 50 percent of juvenile detainees at youth camps having spent more than 24 hours in solitary confinement.
Los Angeles County joins 19 states and the District of Columbia that have recently ended solitary confinement for juveniles. The practice has been criticized for being cruel and not having any real benefit, so it’s a huge step that more places are banning this awful practice.
Applaud these new restrictions on using solitary confinement on minors that will hopefully keep kids from experiencing this unnecessary trauma.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors,
I’m writing to thank you for placing restrictions on the use of solitary confinement on minors in your county. Many other cities and states have banned this practice altogether as activists spread information on how damaging this punishment truly is.
The point of jail or any other kind of sentence is to rehabilitate people so they can rejoin society as better people. Solitary confinement can have lasting, negative consequences on a child’s well-being. I hope that more officials will ban the use of this cruel punishment.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Henry Hagnäs
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