President Barack Obama on Monday has banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons.
His executive action against solitary confinement for juveniles will affect around 10,000 inmates.
The new reform is supposed to protect prisoners who commit low level infractions.
The reform also caps the maximum sentence of solitary to 60 days in solitary confinement for a first offense, versus the previous 365 days.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Obama cited the case of Kalief Browder, who spent two years in solitary confinement at Riker’s Island in New York as he awaited trial for stealing a backpack.
He wrote: ‘The practice should be limited, applied with constraints and used only as a measure of last resort.’
‘In our criminal justice system, the punishment should fit the crime — and those who have served their time should leave prison ready to become productive members of society.’
The Washington Post also reported that between September 2014 and September 2015, only 13 juveniles were placed in restrictive housing.
