[Baltimore Sun] Maryland must reduce its use of solitary confinement | READER COMMENTARY
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I read with interest the recent article by The Baltimore Sun’s Maya Lora about five bills that are before the Maryland General Assembly this session (“Here are five prison-focused bills to watch in 2024,” Feb. 27). I support all of these efforts to improve our penal system. She missed one other, however: the bill to curtail the abusive practice of prolonged isolation in Maryland state prisons — Senate Bill 1085 and House Bill 1144.
Prison officials refer to this practice as segregation or restricted housing. It is best understood as solitary confinement, a practice that should be a last resort and which has become the default practice in Maryland prisons. Several states have banned the practice entirely. Those that have done so have saved money, reduced recidivism and seen a decrease, or at least no increase, in violence. In contrast, Maryland has increased the use of solitary even for casual infractions.
An estimated 95% of those who are incarcerated will leave prison. How we treat them in prison and upon their release profoundly impacts their ability to return to society as productive citizens.
I urge readers to contact their state legislators to support SB 1085 in the Maryland Senate and HB 1144 in the House of Delegates. Both the Senate and House bills are up for readings this week — March 6 in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and March 7 in the House Judiciary Committee.
— Suzanne H. O’Hatnick, Baltimore
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