Disparity in prisons
80% of those in solitary are Black or Latino
80% of state inmates in solitary confinement are Black or Latino.
As a bill to end prolonged solitary confinement in New York prisons awaits action by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, data from the New York Civil Liberties Union shows that the number of Black people in solitary confinement is 10 percent higher than their share of the larger prison population. The same data shows that more than 80 percent of all people who have been held in solitary are either Black or Latino.
While experts say these racial disparities should be understood in the context of a system that discriminates against people of color, the racial gaps in solitary confinement rates are particularly severe, according to NYCLU’S data. The statistics were obtained as part of a settlement between the advocacy group and the state Department of Corrections and
Community Supervision related to a lawsuit over conditions in solitary confinement; DOCCS has to provide information on solitary rates regularly.
“I think it’s just like anything else within the criminal legal system,” said Jared Trujillo, policy counsel with the NYCLU. “From the inception of cases when we look at who is over-policed, when we look at the systems in our state that lead to certain individuals having certain interactions with police, when you look at who is most targeted for disciplinary actions within incarcerated settings, it’s Black and brown folks.”
As of Feb. 1, Black people make up 58 percent of those housed in Solitary Housing Units, called “the box” in prison, despite making up 48 percent of the prison population. People who are Black make up 18 percent of the total population of New York. The portion of people in solitary who are either Black or Latino is 82 percent. (This includes only people housed in SHUS, not people on what’s known as “keeplock” who are confined to their normal cells.)
DOCCS declined to comment, citing the litigation. A spokesman said on background that the agency works to reduce racial disparities.
The state Assembly and Senate last week passed the HALT Solitary Act, which places a number of restrictions on solitary use, notably banning its use after 15 days. The United Nations defines solitary confinement for more than than period as torture.
Row Davis is an anti-violence advocate with the Center for Community Alternatives who spent 29 years in New York state prison, including a month-long stint in a SHU after an argument with a corrections officer. He spent 23 hours a day in a unit with another inmate.
“That is one of the most horrible experiences I’ve ever had in my life,” Davis said. “A regular, typical day for someone who was just put in that environment is trying to remain sane.”
He likened it to the film “Groundhog Day,” only more nightmarish: “Every day is the same. It’s a mundane experience where you’re not being nurtured, you’re not being educated, you’re not being given the opportunity to release the frustrations that you have.”
Davis said there’s a widespread view that the mostly white guards and staff in state prisons, especially those located upstate, have racial prejudices that are reflected in the data on discipline, including solitary confinement.
Davis said he had arguments with the person he was housed with, but was able to stop it from escalating into violence thanks to an anti-violence program he’d completed behind bars.
“When you send someone off to war, what is one of the first things you do when they send you back to population? They debrief you,” Davis said. “They
send you to an environment where ... you can begin to normalize back into society. They don’t do that in prison. … You do not have to be a psychologist to understand the psychological aspect of that. If the goal is to release individuals back into society, the No. 1 question is, what kind of people do you want to return back to society?”