Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

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As a result of a class action lawsuit, the state agreed yesterday to curtail the use of solitary confinement. New York's prison system will become the largest in the nation to ban the use of solitary confinement to punish minors; it will prohibit the use of confinement as punishment for pregnant inmates; and the punishment will be limited to 30 days for the developmentally disabled. The agreement also imposes sentencing guidelines and maximum lengths for different infractions for all prisoners. On average, about 3,800 prisoners are in solitary confinement every day for 22 or more hours for violating prison rules.

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