End Solitary Confinement in Delaware.

A new report issued in September 2024 shows that despite progress over the past decade, incarcerated people in Delaware are still being held in isolation, subjected to cruel punishments, and are unable to obtain the health treatment services they deserve.

Medical professionals, psychologists, incarcerated people and their families, advocates, and correctional officials across the country have called for an end to solitary confinement. Studies have shown it harms incarcerated people’s mental and physical health, while undermining their ability to rehabilitate and return to their communities outside of prison. In addition, many prison officials contend it makes facilities less safe because it erodes incarcerated peoples’ mental health.

The ACLU-DE and Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) filed litigation in 2015 against state prisons’ use of solitary confinement on people with mental illnesses. The lawsuit was settled and led to five years of monitoring that saw significant changes. However, CLASI recently issued a report showing that some people are still being put into isolation through “backdoor” solitary confinement programs; subjected to ineffective and cruel punishments that can be detrimental to their mental health; and many people are unable to receive the health treatment they need because there is a lack of resources.

It is past time for lawmakers to close the door on solitary confinement in Delaware. Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glasgow) has already pledged to introduce legislation to do so. In addition to banning solitary confinement, we need legislators to ensure that the public has access to information about how incarcerated people are being treated in prison, invest in more mental health and substance use treatment programs, and ensure that people with mental illnesses are not subjected to embarrassing and counterproductive punishments.

We need you to send a message to your elected officials urging them to support Rep. Morrison’s legislation to end solitary confinement and invest in health treatment services.

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Your Message

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I urge you to support legislation that Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glasgow) has pledged to introduce that would ban solitary confinement and expand mental health and substance use treatment in Delaware prisons.

We must also require that Delaware prisons operate transparently and are accountable to the public.

Message Body

A report released in September 2024 by Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) found that Delaware prisons need to enact further reforms to help incarcerated people with mental illnesses. The reforms include:

• Ending “backdoor” solitary confinement where people are held in isolation without it being called solitary, including for people under suicide watch.
• Banning the use of outdated and embarrassing tactics such as aggressive canines or “food loafs” (i.e. food that is pureed and baked into a loaf that is not pleasant to eat) that harm peoples’ mental health.
• Expanding the use of Residential Treatment Units (RTUs) to all prisons in the state and ensuring treatment programs are available for people with mental illnesses or substance use disorders who step down from RTUs.
• Require the Delaware Department of Correction to make information about solitary confinement and treatment of incarcerated people with mental illnesses regularly available to the public.

Beyond these reforms, I believe that Delaware should ban the use of solitary confinement altogether, so we may close the door on it ever being used in state prisons.

No person should be held in isolation, especially if they have a mental illness.

I urge you to support the reforms to be introduced by Rep. Eric Morrison in the 2025-2026 legislative session.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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End Solitary Confinement in Delaware.

A new report issued in September 2024 shows that despite progress over the past decade, incarcerated people in Delaware are still being held in isolation, subjected to cruel punishments, and are unable to obtain the health treatment services they deserve.

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