Poll shows bipartisan support for solitary confinement ban
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New polling from a progressive think tank suggests that bans on solitary confinement have broad support across the political spectrum. file photo via boc
By Jacob Kaye
A bill that would effectively ban solitary confinement in the city’s jails already has super-majority support in the City Council – now, new polling suggests that the details of the bill have broad support across the political spectrum.
A new poll released this month by progressive think tank Data for Progress shows that a majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents polled would support legislation that would “limit solitary confinement to a maximum of four hours per day [and] ensure that anyone in solitary confinement receives regular support from medial and mental health staff.” Those polled also said that they would support legislation that makes clear solitary confinement is only to be used in emergency situations.
The nationwide poll found that 78 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of Independents and 51 percent of Republicans would support such legislation.
Of the little more than 1,200 people polled, around 71 percent said that they also would support legislation that capped the number of days spent in solitary confinement at 15.
new polling from data for progress, a progressive think tank, shows broad political support for bans on solitary confinement. chart via data for progress
The hypothetical legislation referenced in the polling question is nearly identical to legislation currently being considered by the City Council. The ban on solitary confinement – Intro 549 – currently has the support of 38 councilmembers, creating a veto-proof majority for the bill.
That super-majority may be necessary, as the mayor and Department of Correction officials have pushed back against the legislation, citing concerns about its alleged potential to hamper correction officers’ ability to de-escalate violent situations on Rikers Island.
However, supporters of the bill say it will lead to decreases in violence in the jail where 34 people have died in the last 23 months. Solitary confinement has been determined to be a form of torture by the United Nations and it has been tied to a number of deaths on Rikers Island in recent years. The legislation would help address root causes of some of the violence on the island, supporters say.
“This new polling shows that there is nationwide bipartisan support for ending solitary confinement, a torture that is currently permitted and practiced within our city,” New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in a statement shared exclusively with the Eagle. “Furthermore, this support falls in line with the framework our bill codifies – prohibiting the harm of isolation, while allowing for separation to ensure safety, de-escalation, and investigation of misconduct.”
“With a real, enforceable ban on solitary within our city, we have an opportunity to make New York City a leader in the effort to reform a system of legal justice that has for far too long been unjust,” added Williams, who serves as the bill’s lead sponsor. “Our bill has supermajority City Council support, our policies have nationwide majority support, and it’s time to pass it.”
The bill, which will almost undoubtedly pass when it comes for a full council vote, largely builds on a statewide ban on solitary confinement known as the HALT law – which went into effect earlier this year – as well as a previous ban on solitary confinement at the city level for young adults and teens.
The bill would prevent incarcerated individuals from being held in an isolated cell for more than two hours per day within a 24-hour period and for no more than eight hours at night. Should corrections officials determine that further confinement is required to de-escalate a situation, an incarcerated person could be held for up to four hours total in a 24-hour period.
The bill would also require that staff meet with the incarcerated person at least once an hour to attempt to de-escalate the situation. Additionally, medical staff will be required to conduct checks on the incarcerated person every 15 minutes, the bill states. The bill also sets new reporting guidelines, and requires that hearings be held to determine whether or not a person’s stay in restrictive housing is justified.
The City Council held a heated hearing on the bill in September – the bill has been floating around the legislative body for years, but received a major boost earlier that month when City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, whose mother was a corrections officer, voiced her support for the ban on solitary.
During the hearing, Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina said in no uncertain terms that he was opposed to the legislation as written.
“Let me begin by saying that we fundamentally agree on a very important point – our jails should be humane and solitary confinement is inhumane,” Molina said in September. “If enacted, [the bill] would have grave consequences – it would make the job of running a humane and safe jail system far more difficult.”
Molina argued that the de-escalation units that would be created under the bill would in some ways be “more desirable places to be housed in” than general population housing. He also argued that the provision in the bill that requires a hearing to be held to determine whether or not a person should be placed in the segregated unit prior to their placement there, would give an incarcerated person more time to commit another violent act.
“Let me tell you in plain language what that means – the department would have no ability to meaningfully separate perpetrators of violent acts from the rest of the population prior to a hearing,” Molina said.
During the hearing, Molina also denied charges that the DOC has been violating the state’s HALT law.
In August 2021, Brandon Rodriguez died after being locked inside a solitary shower cell. About a year later, Elijah Muhammad died in a similar cage.
Last month, the DOC said that it intended to ask the BOC to suspend its rules surrounding jail facility-wide lockdowns, which advocates say essentially act as solitary confinement for an entire housing unit. Days later, the DOC withdrew its request.
“The New York City Council must pass Intro No. 549 immediately,” Anisah Sabur, an organizer with the #HALTsolitary Campaign said in a statement. “According to this latest poll, a bipartisan majority of voters across the country recognize what we have long known, that even short periods of time in solitary cause devastating and deadly harm.”
“Directly in line with this poll and with years of evidence, Int. No. 549 would end solitary confinement beyond four hours, in all forms and by all names, and instead utilize alternative forms of separation that have been proven to better support people’s health, well-being, and safety for everyone,” Sabur added. “We as New Yorkers cannot afford to lose one more life in our jails due to the use and practice of solitary confinement.”
