California may be 1st to ban solo confinement for immigrants

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California would be the first U.S. state to ban solitary confinement in private civil detention centers used for immigrants who are under threat of deportation, under a bill that advanced Tuesday. In California, more than 90% of immigrants facing potential deportation are held in for-profit detention facilities that would be affected by the bill, according to Immigrant Defense Advocates, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. Holden said his bill would align California with recommendations from both the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in 2016 and the United Nations General Assembly’s ratification in 2015 of the Nelson Mandela Rules banning segregation longer than 15 days. The California State Sheriffs’ Association, whose members run the state’s jails, said the bill’s various restrictions would “practically eliminate any use of segregated confinement, including when such placement is necessary for the safety of the facility or individual inmates themselves.” The state corrections department calculated that complying would cost the state nearly $1.3 billion in one-time costs to expand exercise yards and programming space, and an additional $200 million a year for more correctional officers.