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On any given night, over a hundred thousand people are confined to the torturous conditions of solitary confinement in jails and prisons within the United States. Moreso, in Connecticut, over 9,000 people are held in isolated cells in the state’s jails and prisons.

The practice of solitary confinement, with its roots tracing back to the 1830s, was initially introduced by the Quakers in Pennsylvania. It was a novel approach, a substitute for public punishment, aimed at isolating prisoners, giving them space for introspection, and potentially leading to self-repentance for their misdeeds.

Solitary confinement, also known as “segregation” or “restricted housing,” is a widely debated practice in the Department of Corrections (DOC).

In Connecticut, the practice of solitary confinement remains a controversial topic as the DOC continues to utilize disciplinary measures for inmates who violate prison rules or exhibit disruptive behavior. Inmates placed in solitary confinement are typically isolated in cells the size of a parking space for up to 23 hours a day, with limited human interaction and restricted privileges.

Critics of solitary confinement argue that the short and long-term effects of extended isolation can and have caused detrimental damage to the physical, social, and physiological aspects of the individuals who succumbed to the practice. Extended periods of isolation can lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and even suicide.

Barbara Fair, a licensed clinical social worker and founding member of Stop Solitary Ct, has been fighting for criminal justice reform for over 50 years.

“What goes on behind bars in Connecticut and across this nation is shameful, it should be criminal. If we were caging dogs and cats like we’re caging human beings, there [would be] laws to protect them. There are no laws to protect us,” Fair states.

The organization's primary goal is to raise awareness about the harmful effects of solitary confinement on individuals' mental health and well-being and to bring the practice to an end across Connecticut. Although awareness is a large portion of what Stop Solitary CT does, Fair also mentions its advocacy efforts for legislative and policy changes restricting isolation as a form of punishment.

In 2022, the organization successfully got Governor Ned Lamont to pass the PROTECT Act; the legislation restricts the number of consecutive days an inmate can spend in solitary confinement to 15 and no more than 30 total days within 60 days.

Cody Richards, now 31, has spent most of his adult life within the Connecticut prison system, including a stint at Northern Correctional Institution before it shut down. This infamous high-security state prison was where dangerous inmates were sent, including the Cheshire murderers.

For Cody, his experience in prison and restricted housing was not an entirely traumatic ordeal, but he tries not to think about his past.

“There are times when things cross my mind, such as going through this interview, for example, and having to relive certain things, which is fine. It's not something that affects me too much. It's just hard sometimes for me to articulate just because I’ve been trying so hard to remove a lot of thoughts from my mind so I don’t dwell on a lot of the things that have happened to me," Cody says. “[restricted housing] has changed myself in so many ways and they’re not good, I still struggle every single day with waking up and maybe I can put on some nice clothes, I can shave, and maybe I can make myself look like I’m not torn apart but every single day that I wake up is a struggle.”

In restricted housing prisons such as Northern and Osborn, the two Cody were incarcerated in, inmates are confined to their cells for 22 hours a day. While inmates may communicate with other prisoners in restricted housing, have a singular roommate, access to exercise, and visits from mental health or medical staff, they receive little to no stimulation other than these routine activities.

A police captain overlooks an empty inmate cell at Northern Correctional Institution. Source: Hartford Courant.

“I used to go to bed every single night, asking to not wake up. Every night, every day, for years. So that’s something I’ve struggled with and it took me a long time to shake that, it took me a long time to not want to wish myself away," Cody says. "I didn’t have the balls to take enough pills or kill myself; those thoughts are there, those thoughts were there. It wasn't an easy time, I'm glad I didn't give into those thoughts or feelings."

After getting out six years of his fifteen-year sentence in 2022, Cody is no longer in restricted housing but continues to face challenges with his psyche and depression.

When released, he returned to his passion for art and found the ability to express himself through sculpting pieces, some of which are present in his interview.

Cody's story, while fortunate, is an outlier.

According to a Prison Policy report, “Even though people in solitary confinement comprise only 6% to 8% of the total prison population (by a conservative estimate), they account for approximately half of those who die by suicide.” Solitary confinement is shown to create and intensify mental health issues, which then leads to precarious environments for both staff and other incarcerated people.

“The use of solitary confinement, especially in inmates with mental illness, has become controversial and the focus of prison reform efforts,” Reena Kapoor, MD, a forensic psychiatrist and associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, has been evaluating mental illness in incarcerated people for over 15 years.

Before Dr. Kapoor took her position at Yale School of Medicine, she worked in two Connecticut correctional facilities employed as a prison psychiatrist overseeing inmates.

“The difference is that the external environment is very different in a correctional setting and not conducive to maintaining the patient’s mental health. Isolated prisoners have high rates of self-injury, for example, cutting themselves, banging their heads, and suicide," Dr. Kapoor states.

Differing from the general view of this practice, according to Dr. Kapoor, inmates sometimes prefer to be placed in segregation from the general prison population (GPP).

“[Contrarily] some people I work with in prison did not want to leave [segregation] because

they felt safer from gang violence or from noise and overstimulation," she says. "[They] would even engage in some type of disciplinary misconduct so that they would be allowed to stay.”

While not prevalent, isolation as a barrier from the GPP does offer insight into why some inmates purposely act out and violate prison rules.

The CT DOC could not be reached to comment on their solitary confinement use. However, in the past, the CT DOC has defended the use of solitary confinement as a necessary tool for maintaining safety and security in prisons.