Despite the prison population dipping after the pandemic, these numbers have once again risen, and the U.S. still holds the title of having the largest prison population in the world. At any given time, about 8 percent of this population is locked up in solitary confinement with little to no interaction, no sunlight and nothing to do but sit in idleness. We speak with two criminal justice experts about the lasting mental and physical effects of solitary confinement and the mental health crisis plaguing prisons.
Guest Information:
- Dr. Keramet Reiter, Professor, Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California – Irvine
- Tracy Velazquez, Manager, Public Safety Research, Pew Charitable Trust.
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