Solitary confinement is often considered the harshest punishment handed out in prisons, known to cause mental stress so severe that it’s considered torture by the United Nations.
New Jersey leaders sought to ban the practice years ago, passing a law in 2019 that prohibits keeping an inmate in a cell for 20 hours or more per day over an extended period. But a new report from the state Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson has found that on any given day more than 700 people in state prisons are confined to a cell for 22 hours or more.
Terry Schuster, New Jersey Corrections Ombudsperson, sat down with NJ Spotlight News to discuss the findings and what can be done next.
