A Bipartisan Majority of Voters Support Strongly Restricting Solitary Confinement, Including Placing a Four-Hour Limit on the Practice
By Lew Blank
A growing number of states and localities across the country are taking measures toward ending or restricting the use of solitary confinement — and many others, as well as the federal government, are considering such measures.
New Data for Progress polling shows bipartisan support among voters across the country for the following measures:
Ending all solitary confinement beyond four hours, and only immediately following an emergency situation involving serious physical injury;
Ending prolonged solitary confinement;
Banning solitary confinement entirely for certain categories of people;
Opposing the use of solitary for some of the more problematic routine reasons; and
Creating a new office to investigate corruption and mismanagement of U.S. prisons, including matters related to solitary confinement.
Ultimately, a majority of voters across the country and across the political spectrum support Congress ending solitary confinement entirely beyond a limit of four hours, and only following an emergency situation involving serious physical injury. Specifically, voters support this proposal by a +32-point margin, including 78 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of Independents, and a majority of Republicans (51 percent).
Voters also support — by an even greater +51-point margin — ending prolonged solitary confinement beyond 15 days, including 78 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Independents, and 64 percent of Republicans.
Additionally, we find voters support — by a +59-point margin — ending the use of solitary confinement for people with mental health needs, with 78 percent of voters across party lines supporting such a measure.
Similarly, voters support ending solitary confinement for LGBTQ people (74 percent of voters, by a +55-point margin); people who are pregnant, recovering from childbirth, or caring for a young child (76 percent of voters, by a +58-point margin); and people with a physical disability (62 percent of voters, by a +33-point margin).
Voters also oppose many of the more problematic routine reasons people are locked in solitary confinement, including talking back to a correctional officer (73 percent oppose), using swear words (91 percent oppose), raising complaints about corruption and abuse (64 percent oppose), testing positive for drugs (63 percent oppose), and having a mental health crisis (56 percent oppose).
In addition to support for restricting solitary confinement, voters overwhelmingly support — by a +75-point margin — the creation of a new office to investigate corruption and mismanagement in U.S. prisons, including allegations of abuse during solitary confinement. This includes 94 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of Independents, and 78 percent of Republicans.
Finally, we provided voters with two approaches to handling individuals who misbehave in jail or prison, and asked them which they agree with more. The first approach was rehabilitative — focused on counseling and programming — while the second approach was focused on punishment through solitary confinement. We find that voters across party lines — 79 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Independents, and 51 percent of Republicans — prefer the first, rehabilitative approach.
It is clear that voters support strongly restricting solitary confinement, including placing a four-hour limit on the practice. Yet, prisons, jails, and detention centers across the country continue to lock scores of thousands of people in solitary confinement each day — routinely for months, years, and even decades.
By contrast, voters believe no one should be locked in solitary beyond 15 days; people with mental health needs, who are pregnant, or who are LGBTQ should never be locked in solitary; no one should be locked in solitary confinement beyond four hours immediately after an emergency incident involving serious physical injury; and there should be greater oversight of abuse that occurs in solitary and prisons more generally.
Local, state, and federal leaders should all take note and take measures to eliminate solitary confinement immediately.
Lew Blank (@LewBlank) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.