Activists praise vote that bans solitary at Allegheny County Jail

Over just 10 weeks, volunteers working with a consortium of groups and Alliance for Police Accountability collected more than 45,000 signatures to get a question on Allegheny County’s ballot: Should jail officials be prohibited from using solitary confinement, the restraint chair and chemical agents on those incarcerated there?

The answer, given by voters on Tuesday, was overwhelmingly yes.

The measure passed with nearly 70% voting in favor.

“When I woke up this morning, the first thing on my mind were the people currently in ACJ and the people in solitary confinement that say they don’t matter,” said Brandi Fisher, who heads the alliance. “I was brought to tears of joy. That’s why we do this work — to be able to have an impact on people’s worlds.”

The ballot measure prohibits the use of solitary confinement in all but emergency settings — for short-term periods for individuals or if the warden implements a facility-wide lockdown. It also prohibits the use of chemical agents, leg shackles and the restraint chair.

According to the Abolitionist Law Center, which currently has a federal lawsuit pending against the jail for its use of solitary confinement, the restraint chair was used 339 times in 2019. For comparison, across the rest of the state, it was only used 1,086 times.

Under the ballot initiative, the warden must also begin writing monthly reports on the facility’s use of solitary, including how often and why it is used, as well as the age, gender and race of the person it is used on. The report must also include when and why the facility is locked down.

“This is not something far removed, happening in a third-world country,” Fisher said. “It’s happening right Downtown to our family.”

Jaclyn Kurin, an attorney with the Abolitionist Law Center, said that the reforms encompassed in the ballot initiative are long overdue.

“The standards of decency have changed. When you deny people privileges and human contact, that is just inhumane no matter where you are.

“The voters saw that.”

Studies show that when solitary confinement is prohibited in a correctional setting, the number of violent incidents goes down, she said. Kurin noted, too, that the use of solitary confinement has already been severely limited in many places — including California and Colorado.

“Both the science and practice has shown that prolonged isolation is not only ineffective, but torture,” Kurin said.

The reporting requirements under the ballot initiative take effect in 30 days, while the prohibition on the use of solitary, restraint chairs and chemical agents doesn’t kick in for 180 days.

“Given the jail’s past performance, or non-performance, you can be skeptical of implementation,” Kurin said. “But the benefit of this order, every incarcerated person subject to solitary confinement can go to state court to petition for relief. That’s important.”

A message sent to a county spokeswoman had not been returned Wednesday afternoon.

“We would expect the warden, like any other official in this county, to follow the law,” Kurin said.

Fisher said that the organizations that worked on this issue will now continue to ensure that everyone incarcerated at the jail, as well as their loved ones, know about the changes and their possible redress if there are violations.

“Allegheny County woke up — this wasn’t all Black people voting for this. It was people who are our neighbors and people who care about humanity,” Fisher said. “We took the energy, the people and the pain from last summer and moved that to political power.

“That’s what we need to do make systemic change.”