Podcast: Opening the steel door – how Colorado is reforming solitary confinement

Prisoners are put in solitary confinement – for days, and sometimes for months and years, in most countries. In the USA, the American Civil Liberties Union has estimated that some 80,000 prisoners are housed in some form of isolation.

However, the dangers of solitary confinement are increasingly recognised. Not only to the mental health of the individual, but also to public safety, given that the vast majority of prisoners will one day be released back into the community.

Colorado is one of the US states which has reconsidered its use of solitary confinement in recent years, introducing significant restrictions. In this blog, its Executive Director, Rick Raemisch explains why he believes the reforms have been necessary.

This blog is one of a series of monthly expert blogs for Penal Reform International.