If a person is sent to prison, can they request solitary confinement?

Isn’t solitary confinement used more as a punishment than for protection?

You can ask to be put in a separate area for convicts with special needs, e.g. if you’re gay or a rapist or child molester, because those prisoners are prone to being targeted by the general prison population. Whether you would succeed or not is another matter.

A request can be made, but from all that I’ve read, the decision is made in court or by the jail, based upon the circumstance.

__In a prison context, protective custody is used mainly in the following cases:__
* __Those who are at high risk of being harmed or killed by other prisoners either for their crime or their group (ethnic or otherwise), such as pedophiles, child murderers / child abusers,[1] police officers, gang members in a prison containing rival gang members or those who choose to “debrief” (provide information on their gang), or prisoners who are gay or trans-gender.__
* __Those criminals who are themselves witnesses to a crime, and might be harmed by other prisoners to either prevent them from speaking out, or for revenge.__ Source

And solitary confinement isn’t like having a dorm room to yourself. Those cells are considered by some to be a form of mental torture due to the sensory deprivation and lack of human contact.

No, you can’t just ask to be put in isolation. Unless you have one of the mandated reasons for isolation.

They have protective custody for people who are in danger in the general population. I think certain crimes will automatically get that approved, but like you said, it is solitary and I hear it’s pretty miserable.

You have to frame your request in the form of a statement, like punching the guy in front of you in the chow line, and crapping on the warden’s desk!

If you are in protective custody, rather than solitary-as-punishment, are you allowed reading material?

My guess would be, yes they can. If someone is assigned to solitary confinement because they need protective custody, they would (or should) be allowed the same privileges. Some are even treated to special benefits.

__Witness protection programs also exist in prisons. To protect witnesses serving a prison sentence, the federal government has created witness protection units within federal prisons. Protected witnesses live a more comfortable life than other prisoners, which includes having free and unlimited access to telephones and CABLE TELEVISION and the ability to use their own money to buy food, appliances, jewelry, and other items.__

__Aside from these witness protection programs, prisons also have protected custody units for inmates who are targets of assault or victims of SEXUAL HARASSMENT. Although conditions vary greatly in protected custody units from one institution to another, life is more restricted than in the general prison population. Some large prisons have separate protective custody facilities, but in most jails and prisons an inmate has protective custody status while housed in administrative SEGREGATION. This means that the inmate is restricted to his cell twenty-three hours a day and must take meals there as well.__ Source

As mentioned above there is the option of protective custody for special cases. Many prisons have special yards specifically for prisoners that are under high risk of attack or assault by other prisoners for whatever reason.

Solitary confinement has pretty much been proven to be extremely detrimental to mental health. Regular socialization and touch are as vital to our well being as food or shelter, we are hard wired to require it to survive. The rate of suicide and repeat offenses is extremely high in solitary confinement when compared to general population. Often prisoners in isolation will act out simply to get some attention, to have another person speak to them or touch them, even in a negative way becomes better than being completely alone. It is actually quite sad. Many prisons are working towards eradicating solitary confinement because they recognize the problem, but are unaware of an alternative for particularly violent or dangerous criminals. It’s a vicious cycle.

Yes, I would think so.

In addition to my above post

It depends on the Lt. and warden that run the facility. If it is mandated by court ( it is only mandated when your lawyer asks for it on sentencing day ) you will be placed in the S.H.U. or hole. When you arrive to a facility it depends on the security level of it as well. If you are sent to a low you can’t ask to be placed in the hole, they will laugh at you. If you are scared for whatever reason and they do not want to place you in the hole smack the guard that you hate the most and problem solved. You will not get new charges, only lose good time.

@mrmijunte Um…. How do you know all this? I was just being funny and spekkalatin’..

@Trillian I was in federal prison.