Solitary Confinement : Biblical Justice or Nah?

What is solitary confinement? 
On any given day, people are confined in cells slightly larger than an elevator for at least 22-23 hours a day with no human contact. In New York State alone, there are at least 2,400 people currently locked down in Special Housing Units (SHU), better known as solitary confinement.[1] Prison officials endorse this practice as an effective way of stopping violence in prison and point to it as a corrective measure for problematic inmates. [2] However, numerous studies show that prolonged solitary confinement causes severe psychiatric harm and severe exacerbation of preexisting mental illness. Effects of solitary confinement include the inability to tolerate ordinary stimuli, hallucinations, panic attacks, difficulty thinking, the emergence of revenge/torture fantasies, overt paranoia, and loss of impulse control.[3] A 2014 study of New York City jails found that while only about 7 percent of prisoners spent time in solitary confinement, those people accounted for nearly half of all acts of suicides in prison.[4]

Does solitary confinement reflect biblical justice?
In modern culture, we primarily define justice in a punitive sense as judgment. Bad people commit crimes, and when they are judged and incarcerated for those crimes, we call that justice. But biblically, justice in relationship isn’t the end, it’s a means to an end. In the scriptures, justice…focuses on the action that needs to be taken in order to restore a situation to its intended righteousness.” [5] In fact, the most common word-pair used in scripture to convey our understanding of justice in relationship is “justice and righteousness” (Psalm 89:154, 103:6, 94:15, 33:5).[6] In the bible…when injustice of any kind is present, judicial intervention may be needed to help make things right. In this way the Hebrew word translated justice (mishpat) also has legal connotations and is sometimes translated “judgment”. [7]

In other words, biblically God’s judgment is always redemptive. The biblical goal of justice is restoration of the broken relationships between humanity and God, within humanity itself and between humanity and the rest of creation. We see this clearly in the bible, when God reveals his righteousness through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom 1:16-17) so that the broken relationship between humanity and God can be restored and so that humanity would be set free to live faithfully in our relationships with God and each other. And so, this begs the question, what does it mean for Christians in 2019 to know the steadfast love, righteousness and justice of God (Jeremiah 9:24) and to heed the call of the Lord to “do justice” (Micah 6:8)? 

It looks like exposing solitary confinement as inhumane and fighting for a criminal justice system that is restorative, fair and oriented towards the common good, including the good of the currently and formerly incarcerated.[8] People end up in jail because of the brokenness in our relationship within ourselves and with others and because of broken institutions.  Solitary confinement serves absolutely no restorative purpose and according to the United Nations, it is psychological torture.[9]  Incarcerating broken people, torturing them, and causing and exacerbating mental trauma is the opposite of biblical justice. In light of the fact that 95% of prisoners will be released at some point (80% to parole supervision),[10] the use of solitary confinement ensures that people released from prison will be released in worse condition than when they entered.

How can you pursue justice for prisoners facing solitary confinement?
Click on the link below to read about and to voice your support for the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act S1623/A2500 (currently in the NY State Legislature) here:

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S1623

This bill will restrict solitary confinement, which currently confines people for 23 hours each day, to 15 consecutive days. The bill would also ban the practice for those younger than 21 years old and older than 55, pregnant women, and people with physical and mental disabilities.

---