Washington is considering banning solitary confinement of young people in detention. King County already has done away with the practice.
A law being considered by the Legislature would prevent all counties from detaining people 18 and under in total isolation.
Emily Murphy works with students locked up at Echo Glen. She read a letter to lawmakers from a young man named Dennis, who recalled his 16 days in solitary confinement in Cowlitz County.
“I started to feel myself getting depressed and feeling hopeless. It was terrible. You get trapped in your own thoughts, repeating trauma over and over again,” the letter reads. “This is why confinement for juveniles is terrible, and we need to fix this problem so youth won’t have to go through what I have gone through.”
The law would ban solitary confinement for youth held in adult facilities as well as those in juvenile detention centers. Research indicates isolation is particularly harmful for juveniles and increases the risk of violence and suicide. Ten states have already banned or limited the practice.
