ACLU calls on Nevada to end use of long-term solitary confinement

CARSON CITY — Corrections officials should audit the use of solitary confinement in the state’s prisons and adopt policies that end its use over extended periods and restrict it only to periods when there are security concerns, according to a study commissioned by the ACLU of Nevada.

The ACLU on Monday released a 48-page study on the use of solitary confinement in the Nevada Department of Corrections system, based in part on surveys of 281 inmates. The study also calls for improving conditions in solitary confinement and immediately removing mentally ill inmates from segregated housing.

The study comes on the heels of an admission last week that the Corrections Department routinely housed mentally ill inmates in segregation units, sometimes for as long as five years at a time.

David Tristan, deputy director of programs for department, told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee that the practices were unconstitutional and among the worst he’s seen.

The department is taking steps to improve conditions for mentally ill inmates, including moving them out of segregation units.

Drawing from the surveys, the ACLU study provided narratives from inmates about their experiences in solitary confinement. One inmate said he caught a fungus after being placed in a dirty cell and he did not get treatment for problems that included panic attacks, depression, outbursts or paranoia. That inmate was diagnosed with mental illness and was doing 20 years to life for a murder conviction.

“Now is the time to end the inhumane practice of extreme isolation in Nevada prisons,” said Holly Welborn, policy director of the ACLU of Nevada, in a statement. “We are confident that this report will bring justice to the men and women who courageously shared their experiences with us.”

The department announced in December that Nevada is one of five states selected to work with the Vera Institute of Justice on ways to reduce the use of solitary confinement. NDOC spokeswoman Brooke Keast said the department already has incorporated changes and looks forward to working with the Vera Institute on the issue.

In addition to surveying inmates, the ACLU filed public records requests, but said the department had “little desire to work with us on analyzing the use of solitary confinement in Nevada and insisted that it was not a problem in the state.”

The ACLU’s study acknowledged that the department is under new administration, calling it “promising new leadership.” Director James Dzurenda joined the department in April 2016.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or (775)461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.