According to the Bureau of Justice, there were 81,622 prisoners in some form of “restricted housing” (code for solitary confinement) in 2005.  If anything, these numbers have increased as isolation units continue to be built in prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers across the country.  Given that 95 percent of all inmates are eventually released into the public, and that many of these will be released without any form of transition or therapy, solitary confinement is a problem that potentially affects every one of us.

There are very few crimes for which isolation is appropriate. It's cruel.