As of one day in July of 2021, more than
41,000 people
were held in solitary confinement cells in prisons in the United States for 22 hours or more a day, for 15 or more continuous days.
Many have spent weeks, months, or years in these conditions.
Seeing Solitary draws from a decade of data providing the numbers, duration, and demographic information as reported by prison systems around the country.
What length of solitary confinement did we study?
Solitary confinement means being locked alone inside a cell for hours on end. Relying on the 2015 UN Nelson Mandela rules, this research asked about people separated from the general prison population and isolated in cell for
HOURS PER DAY
CONTINUOUS DAYS
Many more people are in forms of isolation that fall outside the scope of the information reported here.
What conditions do people face in solitary confinement?
People in solitary confinement spend virtually all of their time with no social contact in a cell that contains a cot and toilet.
In some jurisdictions, people receive their meals through a slot in the door of the cell.
Some cells have no windows, and some are lit around-the-clock. Solitary confinement can be eerily silent or unnervingly loud.
People in solitary confinement spend virtually all of their time with no social contact in a cell that contains a cot and toilet.
In some jurisdictions, people receive their meals through a slot in the door of the cell.
Some cells have no windows, and some are lit around-the-clock. Solitary confinement can be eerily silent or unnervingly loud.
A typical solitary cell is smaller than the size of a parking space.
Photo by Jack Black
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Of the 25,029 people in 34 jurisdictions for whom data was provided:
Who was reported to be in solitary confinement in 2021?
This data comes from reports from 33 jurisdictions that provided data in 2021.
Black men
% IN GENERAL POPULATION
0%
% OF PEOPLE IN SOLITARY
0%
Black women
% IN GENERAL POPULATION
0%
% OF PEOPLE IN SOLITARY
0%
Hispanic or Latino men
% IN GENERAL POPULATION
0%
% OF PEOPLE IN SOLITARY
0%
To learn more about the intersections of race, gender, and ethnicity in solitary, scroll to the end to explore our data
How widespread is solitary confinement? And where is it ending?
USED SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN JULY 2021
10 OR FEWER PEOPLE IN SOLITARY
10 OR FEWER IN SOLITARY IN WOMEN'S PRISONS
We estimate that
people were held in solitary in 2021.
Burlington, VT
Charlottesville, VA
Olympia, WA
Cleveland Heights, OH