ENROLLED
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 64
BY REPRESENTATIVE JAMES
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to gather data on the
use of solitary confinement in Louisiana, to collect personal statements from at least
two hundred current inmates on their experiences in solitary confinement, and to
report its findings to the House of Representatives of the Louisiana Legislature by
May 2021.
WHEREAS, according to a recent report by Solitary Watch, the American Civil
Liberties Union of Louisiana, and the Jesuit Social Research Institute across the United
States, eighty thousand to one hundred thousand incarcerated people are locked in prison or
jail cells without any meaningful human interaction for twenty-two to twenty-four hours a
day for weeks, years, and even decades straight; and
WHEREAS, according to the same report, prolonged social isolation can inflict
permanent psychological and neurological damage and, because of the severe physical and
mental damage that extreme isolation can cause, the United Nations has warned that the use
of solitary confinement beyond fifteen days can be tantamount to torture and should be
banned; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the VERA Institute for Justice found that over seventeen
percent of people in Louisiana prisons were in solitary confinement, which is almost four
times the national average; and
WHEREAS, the report by Solitary Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union of
Louisiana, and the Jesuit Social Research Institute, which is based on a survey of over seven
hundred inmates currently in solitary confinement, raises many questions about the use of
solitary confinement in Louisiana prisons and the need for a comprehensive study of solitary
confinement is clear.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections to gather basic data on the use of solitary confinement in Louisiana, including
but not limited to demographic data on persons who are in solitary confinement, the duration
of each person's solitary confinement, and the reasons for placement in solitary confinement.
The demographic data gathered by the department shall include but is not limited to
information on the person's race, sex, and age, the offense for which the person was
convicted, the length of the person's sentence, the number of years the person has been
incarcerated, and the number of years remaining on the person's sentence. The department
shall also collect personal statements from at least two hundred current inmates on their
experiences in solitary confinement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
shall issue a report of its findings to the House of Representatives of the Louisiana
Legislature by May 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be provided
to the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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