For seven years, President Obama has angered conservatives with executive actions on guns, immigration and a host of other issues. But on Monday Obama signed an executive order conservatives and all people of goodwill should get behind.
The president announced in an op-ed in the Washington Post that he will ban solitary confinement for minors in federal prisons. The order is part of a broader initiative to improve conditions for 10,000 inmates in solitary confinement across the country. The order will also end the use of solitary for low-level offenders and offer more mental health treatment for those who are placed in isolation.
The executive order applies just to federal inmates, who make up only about a tenth of juvenile inmates in solitary. But Obama hopes the order will be a template for states to follow.
Administrators have been slowly limiting or ending the practice in many states. Last fall, the Association of State Correctional Administrators called on its members to limit or end the use of solitary for extended periods.
At the moment, the U.S. is the only industrialized country that puts children in solitary confinement. Obama writes, “Research suggests that solitary confinement has the potential to lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences. It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses.”
The mental effects can indeed be devastating. Senator John McCain spent two years in solitary confinement as a prisoner of war. He once said that isolation “crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment.”
Conservatives may cringe at the thought of another Obama executive order. But they should support his one, says Marc Levin, policy director at Right on Crime, a coalition of conservatives pushing for reforms to America’s criminal justice system. Levin, who has testified before Congress regarding solitary confinement, told the Washington Examiner that Obama’s use of executive orders is “well within the authority of the executive branch since it only deals with federal prisons.”
He continued: “Though there may be a role for legislation in some instances, in most states and at the federal level the details concerning the use of solitary confinement are not spelled out in statute, partly because lawmakers recognize there are many different situations that hard to predict and account for. Thus, the issue is ripe for executive action since it is not a matter of improperly attempting to override or circumvent a statute, but rather one that fits into administering a correctional facility in a safe and constitutional manner.”
Obama concluded his op-ed by quoting Pope Francis: “In America, we believe in redemption. We believe, in the words of Pope Francis, that ‘every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.’ We believe that when people make mistakes, they deserve the opportunity to remake their lives. And if we can give them the hope of a better future, and a way to get back on their feet, then we will leave our children with a country that is safer, stronger and worthy of our highest ideals.”
Daniel Allott is deputy commentary editor for the Washington Examiner
