"the Shameful Wall of Exclusion": How Solitary Confinement for Inmates With Mental Illness Violates the Americans With Disabilities Act
| Jurisdiction | United States,Federal |
| Citation | Vol. 90 No. 2 |
| Publication year | 2021 |
Under Title II, Section 12132 of the ADA, prisoners with mental illness cannot "be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity." As recognized by U.S. Supreme Court precedent and interpreted by the Department of Justice, the ADA protects mentally ill inmates from discrimination on the basis of their disability. This Comment will argue that prison facilities discriminate under the ADA when they (1) isolate mentally ill inmates on the basis of their disability, (2) prolong inmates' solitary confinement due to their preexisting or manifesting mental illness, or (3) fail to provide access to aids, benefits, or services to inmates with mental illness who need to be isolated for safety reasons.
INTRODUCTION
In 1996, Sam Mandez was sentenced to life in prison in Colorado for a murder he allegedly committed at the age of fourteen.(fn2) Charged as an adult, Mandez was convicted after a highly controversial trial. Several jurors later expressed belief in Mandez's innocence.(fn3) Shortly after beginning his prison sentence, Mandez was placed in solitary confinement for non-violent, minor violations of the prison rules: making a three-way phone call and trying to open a locked bathroom door.(fn4)
When he entered solitary confinement, Mandez was by all accounts a mentally healthy nineteen-year-old.(fn5) Today, after sixteen years in isolation, he has been variously diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and major depressive disorder with psychotic features.(fn6) He hears a female voice that tells him to hurt himself.(fn7) He believes that he joined the Green Berets at the age of twelve.(fn8) He has lost twenty percent of his body weight and attempted suicide three times.(fn9) Even though isolation clearly contributed to Mandez's mental deterioration,(fn10) he remained in solitary confinement for over a decade and a half because his release was contingent on "program compliance" and "appropriate behavior."(fn11) Because Mandez's mental illness prevented him from conforming his behavior, he continued to be trapped in a vicious cycle that he could not escape.(fn12)
Sam Mandez's experience is not unique. The United States incarcerates more prisoners in solitary confinement than any other country in the world-an estimated 80,000 prisoners nationwide.(fn13) This extreme form of isolation often lasts for years and sometimes decades.(fn14) In Texas and California, which have the largest prison populations in the country,(fn15) the average solitary confinement terms are roughly four and seven years, respectively.(fn16) By contrast, the United Kingdom confines just 500 prisoners in isolation, and only for limited periods of time.(fn17) The United States also imprisons a disproportionate number of mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement, also known as the "SHU" (security housing unit) or the "hole."(fn18) In New York State, for example, nearly one-third of the prisoners in solitary confinement have been diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.(fn19) Remarkably, the average solitary confinement sentence for New York inmates with mental illness is also six times longer than that of the general inmate population.(fn20)
The reasons why mentally ill inmates are disproportionately held in isolation are threefold. First, those prisoners with preexisting mental illness may find it difficult to conform to prison regulations.(fn21) They are therefore disparately placed in solitary confinement for disciplinary purposes or administrative reasons.(fn22) Second, many prisoners who are placed in solitary confinement develop severe mental illness as a result of the extreme isolation.(fn23) This latter scenario is most likely what happened to Sam Mandez. As Dr. Terry Kupers, one of the foremost psychologists on the impact of solitary confinement on mental health, explained: "I am often asked whether prisoners with serious mental illness are selectively sent to punitive segregation, or whether the harsh conditions of isolation and idleness cause psychiatric decompensation in a vulnerable sub-population of prisoners. Of course, both mechanisms are in play."(fn24) Third and lastly, mentally ill prisoners in isolation are more likely to violate prison rules, and fail the requirements of so-called "step-down" programs, thus prolonging their solitary sentences.(fn25) The confluence of these three factors has led to high rates of mentally ill inmates being confined in isolation.(fn26)
Legal challenges to prison conditions-including lawsuits challenging solitary confinement for the mentally ill-have traditionally been brought under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishment."(fn27) However, constitutional protections have done little to prevent the proliferation of solitary confinement.(fn28) Although the Supreme Court has yet to directly address whether long-term solitary confinement violates the Eighth Amendment, most federal courts that have considered the issue have held that indefinite isolation is not cruel and unusual.(fn29)
Due to the lack of constitutional protections, some prisoners and their advocates have turned to statutory alternatives, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its precursor, the Rehabilitation Act (collectively referred to in this Comment as the disability rights statutes) to seek relief.(fn30) For years, district courts dismissed these claims.(fn31) However, in 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) made headlines when it found that the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Cresson had violated the ADA by segregating mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement.(fn32) Because the DOJ is tasked with enforcing Title II of the ADA,(fn33) this finding was groundbreaking in the field of prison reform litigation, and several claims have since been filed on the basis of this legal theory.(fn34) However, there are currently few, if any successful cases on record, and it remains to be seen how influential the DOJ's recent interpretation of the ADA in the solitary confinement context will be to courts.(fn35)
This Comment will explore the viability of this new and potentially powerful interpretation of the disability rights statutes and weigh its relative strengths and weaknesses against traditional Eighth Amendment claims. Additionally, this Comment will argue that prison facilities discriminate under the ADA when they (1) isolate mentally ill inmates on the basis of their disability; (2) prolong the isolation of inmates due to their mental decomposition in solitary confinement; and (3) fail to provide equal access to aids, benefits, and services to mentally ill inmates who need to be isolated due to safety considerations.
This argument will be advanced in several parts. Part I provides a brief background of the history of solitary confinement, the medical literature confirming the causal relationship between solitary confinement and mental illness, and the barriers to a successful Eighth Amendment challenge to solitary confinement. Part II describes the elements of a successful ADA or Rehabilitation Act claim, details the potential advantages and drawbacks of this approach, and provides a summary of recent and pending litigation. Part III proposes that future test cases should challenge the segregation of mentally ill prisoners and their prolonged isolation as violations of the disability rights statutes. Part III also argues that these cases should also challenge correctional facilities' failure to provide reasonable modifications or equal access to aids, benefits, or services to inmates isolated for valid safety reasons.
I. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, MENTAL ILLNESS, AND THE LACK OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS
Inmates in solitary confinement are typically housed in small cells for twenty-two to twenty-four hours a day with very limited or no access to human contact, the outdoors, or educational resources.(fn36) Many of these cells are windowless,(fn37) with around-the-clock florescent lighting,(fn38) a poured concrete bed, and steel door.(fn39) Inmates are allowed out of their cells for only one or two hours a day for showers or recreation.(fn40) Such recreation time is spent either alone in an empty cell or in an encaged enclosure.(fn41) Solitary confinement cells have been labeled "prisons within prisons."(fn42)
Solitary confinement is primarily utilized for disciplinary reasons...
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