by Rachel Crumpler – December 2, 2024
Teenagers in North Carolina’s juvenile justice system are routinely being locked alone in their rooms for as much as 23 to 24 hours a day, according to an ongoing federal lawsuit and advocates for young people in custody, despite state officials’ own acknowledgment of research showing that prolonged isolation causes mental and physical harm…
The lawsuit — originally filed in January in U.S. District Court on behalf of the 16-year-old and two other teenagers held for months in the Cabarrus facility — is seeking class-action status to represent the thousands of youth who go through juvenile detention centers every year. Attorneys argue that the state’s use of isolation violates minors’ federal constitutional rights.
“These children have suffered immense physical, social, and psychological harm from solitary confinement,” the lawsuit states in asking for a court-ordered end to the practice.
The N.C. Department of Public Safety, which runs juvenile detention facilities, has filed a series of responses categorically denying the lawsuit’s claims of any policy or practice of regular solitary confinement for young people. However, the department has acknowledged that staff shortages have affected how much time juveniles spend outside their rooms. Deputy Secretary William Lassiter said in a Nov. 18 filing that “administrative room confinement” unrelated to juvenile behavior has been used — and still is in some instances — to cope with “critical staffing issues”. . .
Juvenile detention centers in NC under scrutiny for use of isolation | NC Health News