PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Democratic representatives in Pennsylvania are working to end the current state of solitary confinement in jails, prisons and detention centers across the Commonwealth.
“The only reason I stand before you today is because of God. Because I did try to take my life in that cell,” said Lisa Kessler Peters, one of the speakers who gathered on the state House steps in Harrisburg Tuesday, calling for an end to solitary confinement.
“What I experienced first-hand in our prison system is something that should not be happening.”
For reasons like this, a legislative memo and bill cosponsored by representatives Tina Davis and Donna Bullock would allow at least four hours outside of jail cells each day and give stronger criteria for people to be segregated from the general population.
“Solitary confinement is a word that nobody wants to talk about because just the thought of it is scary,” said Davis, who called the practice out of date and inhumane.
She says they are taking a multifaceted approach in their fight, and that the bill would also limit solitary confinement for those who have mental illness or are pregnant.
According to a 1995 study of the federal prison system, 63% of suicides occurred among incarcerated people locked in solitary confinement cells, despite them making up less than 10% of the prison population.