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51-Jurisdiction Survey of Solitary Confinement Rules in Juvenile Justice Systems

This "survey provides an overview of policies governing the solitary confinement of juveniles in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey allows the reader to understand each state’s approach to imposing this punishment or employing alternatives. This accompanying memo discusses the trends that emerge from the survey, caveats to keep in mind while reading the survey ... The survey distinguishes between states that use confinement as a punishment for past actions and states that use confinement non-punitively, to reduce the threat from the juvenile’s behavior to himself, others, or the security of the facility" (p. 1, 2). 

Each state and the District of Columbia include a long summary which provides in-depth reporting of the state's solitary confinement practices for juveniles and the supporting validation; and a short summary which provides highlights and the source of the law (whether by consent decree, court decision/rule, policy, regulation, self-assessment, settlement agreement, statute, or policy). 

Attachments include: "Time Limits on Length of Punitive Isolation" bar chart showing the number of states that have no punitive confinement, eight or fewer hours, between 34 and 36 hours, three days, four days, five days, over five days, and no limit; chart showing jurisdictions not allowing punitive confinement for more than a few hours a day, states limiting the amount of time a juvenile may spend in confinement, and states placing no limit on the amount of time a juvenile may spend in confinement; and the map "Limiting Punitive Isolation: Reforming Practices in Juvenile Detention Facilities" showing those states that do not use isolation for over eight hours a day as punishment, and those states that do use isolation for over eight hours as punishment.