{"id":17323,"date":"2025-04-11T10:39:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T14:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/?p=17323"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:35:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:35:03","slug":"halt_rollback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2025\/04\/11\/halt_rollback\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling back solitary confinement reforms won\u2019t make prisons safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nWhile the international community has long recognized solitary confinement as a form of torture<\/a>, in the United States, the practice is as ubiquitous as the prison system itself. A 2023 report<\/a> from Solitary Watch noted that on any given day more than 80,000 people in U.S. prisons are held in solitary confinement. People may spend months or even years<\/a> in isolation<\/a>, with devastating results<\/a>. The HALT Solitary Confinement Act<\/a> (HALT), passed in 2022 and advanced by the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement<\/a> (many of whom are themselves survivors of solitary confinement), was intended to change this for people in New York’s prisons. While this legislation did not eliminate the use of solitary confinement altogether, it made important changes like limiting stays to 15 days at a time, initiating review practices, and providing protections for vulnerable populations like the elderly, pregnant people, and those with mental or physical disabilities. However, as in many places<\/a> that have attempted solitary confinement reform<\/a>, these efforts have been met with resistance. \n<\/p>\n

\nIn February, correctional officers across the state of New York began a “wildcat” strike, an unsanctioned work stoppage in violation of New York law. For 22 days, around 15,000 correctional staff across 42 prisons refused to work, forcing Governor Kathy Hochul to call in the National Guard as a stopgap measure. As might be expected, incarcerated people bore the brunt of harm of the strike; at least seven incarcerated people died during the strike<\/a>. There were also reports of insufficient medical care<\/a>, dangerously filthy living conditions<\/a>, and the interruption of programming and visitation. Striking corrections officers’ representatives claim the strike was a desperate response to deteriorating working conditions and understaffing, much of which they blame on HALT<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nUltimately, Hochul gave in to strikers’ demands to rescind HALT protections, first temporarily suspending them, then later agreeing to extend this suspension<\/a> pending further evaluation,1<\/a><\/sup> a move that illegally sidesteps the legislative process<\/a>.2<\/a><\/sup> The rollback of HALT protections leaves people in prison once more subject to extended isolation in solitary confinement. It will also do little to improve working conditions or to fix staffing concerns and stands to make prisons even less<\/i> safe.\n<\/p>\n

Unpacking the claim that solitary reforms have compromised safety <\/h2>\n

\nStrikers’ claims that the HALT Act’s restrictions have hamstrung correctional officers’ ability to maintain order is dubious at best. This is largely because many prisons have simply ignored HALT provisions, routinely violated the law, and have continued to use solitary confinement in much the same manner as before. New York’s Office of the Inspector General<\/a>, as well as a June 2024 court ruling<\/a> found that:\n<\/p>\n