Will Solitary Confinement End In 2020?

When model solitary confinement cells sat on display at the state Capitol and in New Haven’s Ives Memorial Library, David Yaccarino walked into one to see what some inmates in Connecticut prisons experience.

Pictures of Democrats like State Sen. Gary Winfield and State Rep. Robyn Porter in those cells circulated in the news during that 2017 political exhibit.

The experience, said Yaccarino, affected him too, and now, he might be ready in 2020 to support a bill that bans the practice in the state, depending on the language.

“I actually went in and it’s not a good feeling to go in one of those,” Yaccarino said, referring to his experience in the cell. ​“I think each circumstance is different but for the most part we are trying to eliminate that,” he said of the practice.

Yaccarino, a Republican state representative from North Haven, was one of six legislators who over eggs and coffee Saturday morning discussed ending solitary confinement and other issues that may up at the state Capitol during this year’s session, which begins Feb. 5.

Hosted by the League of Women Voters of Hamden and North Haven, the annual breakfast brings together the state delegations of both towns for a session preview. This year’s breakfast featured Josh Elliott (Democrat, 88th House District), Mike D’Agostino (Democrat, 91st House District), Robyn Porter (Democrat, 94th House District), Yaccarino (Republican, 87th House District), President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (Democrat, 11th Senate District), and George Logan (17th Senate District).

Reforming solitary confinement has seen bipartisan support in the past in Connecticut. In 2017, the legislature passed a bill banning solitary confinement for inmates under 18. It also required prisons to track and report statistics on the practice and increase training for staff. The bill had unanimous support in both houses of the General Assembly.

In 2019, legislators tried to push a bill that would eliminate solitary confinement altogether, but failed to get it to a vote on the floor of either chamber. This year, they will try again. On Thursday, advocates held a press conference outside the capitol to push for ending the practice.

Porter said that this year, ending solitary confinement will be one of her legislative priorities. ​“If we took a dog and locked him in a cage for 23 and a half hours a day, we would be incarcerated,” she told the crowd. ​“We would go to jail for that. That would be considered animal torture and inhumane. And we do this to human beings. And what we fail to recognize is that most of these people are coming home. And if you treat people like animals, how do you expect them to act when they come back to the community?”

Elliott said that most of the opposition he anticipates will come from Gov. Lamont’s administration, which has expressed opposition to the idea. The previous week, Lamont’s corrections commissioner, Rollin Cook, argued in a WNHH FM interview that solitary confinement is sometimes still necessary to protect the safety of staff and of inmates. He said he is open to working towards an ​“incremental” phasing out of such a practice by allowing more out-of-cell time for and more supportive services brought to the most isolated prisoners.

Porter said this year might be the year that Connecticut bans solitary confinement once and for all. She said it should be a bipartisan issue, as it was in 2017. ​“Let’s not make this a political issue,” she said. ​“Let’s keep this rooted in the fact that this is a humanity issue… I’m hoping that this is the year that there is no pushback.”

Porter told the crowd that legislation would require both lobbying and pressure from constituents if it is to pass through the General Assembly. Make phone calls and write emails, she urged the crowd.

D’Agostino had another piece of advice.

“For a number of these issues, like solitary confinement, if you email me, Josh, or Robyn, you’re preaching to the choir,” he said. ​“If you really want to make a difference,” he continued, ​“go out and campaign for people running in swing districts across the state.” Once they’re in office, they will champion the causes of the people that helped them get elected, he said.

Yaccarino cut in

“Me and many of my Republican colleagues went into those chambers, and we support it,” he said of ending solitary confinement. ​“We are in the minority, so there’s plenty of votes to change that. It’s up to the administration. I take offense that this …”

D’Agostino piped in as Yaccarino trailed off momentarily. ​“I’d like to see the Republicans sign for that,” he said with a note of disbelief.

Afterward, Yaccarino told the Independent that he does support ending solitary confinement.

“I’d like to not use it at all, to be honest with you,” he said. He added that there might be some extreme cases where certain inmates must be kept separate from other inmates to keep them safe.

Though many legislators might say they support ending solitary confinement in general, disagreements might start to arise when they try to pin down the details of what that actually means, said Elliott.

Stop Solitary: Connecticut, which advocates for the abolition of solitary confinement in Connecticut, defines the practice as keeping inmates locked up in their cells for more than 16 hours per day. It also advocates for more access to communication with the outside world, more programming for inmates, and closing the Northern Correctional Institution, among other reforms. 

Vaccines

While Hamden and North Haven legislators might appear to agree on ending solitary confinement, vaccines may prove a thornier issue among the delegation this year.

At the moment, said Looney, ​“parents can cite a religious objection as well as a medical objection for not vaccinating their children, having them attend school without that vaccination. I believe, and I think many of us believe on a bipartisan basis, that the only justification for not vaccinating children would be a health-related reason.”

It’s unsafe for immunosuppressed children to attend a school with unvaccinated kids, Looney said. Vaccinating an entire population, up to the target level of 95 percent, keeps schools, and the population in general, free of certain viruses.

Elliott last year backed two vaccine-related pieces of legislation. One would have ended the religious exemption. The other would make the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine mandatory. Neither bill passed.

There will be a ​“strong push by our caucus to get them done this year,” Elliott said of both bills.

The HPV bill would make the HPV vaccine mandatory for all seventh graders enrolled in public or private schools. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ​“over 12 years of monitory and research have shown that HPV vaccination is very safe.” The vaccine prevents HPV infections, which can lead to cancer. It is a sexually transmitted virus.

Not all members of the Hamden delegation are as determined to require vaccination as Elliott and Looney.

Porter said she is undecided about the bill banning religious exemptions because she is not sure what the consequences would be for people of color and low-income people. ​“I don’t believe that these decisions should be made lightly,” she said. She added that she does not like the idea of curtailing the rights of parents and individuals to make choices about their children’s and their own health.

On the other side of the aisle, Yaccarino said, he ​“would like to encourage safe vaccinations.”

“I personally would prefer people get vaccinated,” he said, but added that it should be up to the family and the doctor, not the government, at what age the vaccinations happen.