Solitary Confinement: Send Us Your Questions

Sequestering people to solitary confinement, a widespread practice in U.S. prisons and jails that the United Nations says amounts to torture in many instances, has been the subject of lawsuits and haltering reform efforts across the country. 

Two incarcerated writers who have experienced solitary confinement themselves, Christopher William Blackwell and Kwaneta Harris, have written a new book on the practice, Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement.

Blackwell and Harris, who are incarcerated in Washington state and Texas, respectively, co-authored the book with law professor Deborah Zalesne and psychiatrist Terry Kupers. The book pairs personal accounts of solitary with legal and psychological research to capture the full scope of physical isolation in prisons. The book also features the voices of many other currently and formerly incarcerated people who have experienced solitary confinement. 

Blackwell and Harris have agreed to answer questions from Bolts readers about their new book, and the experience of writing it. 

So, we want to hear from you all: Have you wondered how people get subjected to solitary confinement and how they cope with that experience? Or what research shows about its effect on physical and mental health? Want to know more about reforms and advocacy to end solitary confinement?

Let us know in the form below by August 27. Blackwell and Harris will then answer your questions as part of our ongoing series “Ask Bolts.”