Bill to ban solitary confinement in federal prisons introduced in House

"Someday, we will look back and ask why we ever subjected people to prolonged solitary confinement and expected anything other than trauma, violence and death as a response," said Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who is co-leading the legislation along with fellow Democratic Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, and Adriano Espaillat and Jamaal Bowman, both of New York.

At a news conference announcing the legislation, lawmakers said they were concerned by studies of suicide and self-harm among inmates who have been placed in solitary confinement.

"People need to socialize in order to live and thrive and survive," Kamlager-Dove said, "and correctional facilities know that which is why they find small technical violations in other ways to throw people they don't like or want to punish or remind who's boss into solitary confinement."