Despite solitary confinement being widely accepted and practiced among most of the prisons in the United States, there are several Supreme Court case precedents that help prove the use of this punishment is unconstitutional. In the Supreme Court case Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958), U.S. Army private Albert Trop escaped from his punishment in a military stockade for a disciplinary violation. Even though he decided to go back he was still court martialed for his actions, and as a result he had his United States citizenship revoked. He brought his case to the Supreme Court, “After failing to get a declaratory judgement that he was a U.S. citizen, from both a district and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals” (TROP v. DULLES. The Oyez Project
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In the Supreme Court case Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994), Dee Farmer, a transexual woman, was incarcerated with male prisoners after transferring prisons, which resulted in her being repeatedly beaten and raped and ended with her acquiring HIV from her rapist. Farmer brought her case to the Supreme Court claiming the prison administration should have known she was vulnerable to sexual violence due to her being transexual. The Supreme Court voted 9 - 0 in favor of Farmer, stating “A prison official’s deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate violates the Eighth Amendment” (Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)). If the Supreme Court rules that the prison administration's “indifference” to the wellbeing of a prisoner violates the Eighth Amendment, then solitary confinement is unconstitutional. In the case of Kalief Browder, his extended time in solitary confinement during his wait for his trial caused him to suffer from severe depression. As a result of his depression which was a direct effect of him being in solitary confinement, he committed suicide at his home. The prison administration put him in solitary confinement fully knowing that it will affect his mental health, while showing a “deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate”.. That is what solitary confinement is used for, to break down prisoners mental states in order to suppress them for breaking the rules. This helps prove that solitary confinement is unconstitutional since prison administration’s use it, disregarding the effects it has on prisoners
In the Supreme Court case Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994), Dee Farmer, a transexual woman, was incarcerated with male prisoners after transferring prisons, which resulted in her being repeatedly beaten and raped and ended with her acquiring HIV from her rapist. Farmer brought her case to the Supreme Court claiming the prison administration should have known she was vulnerable to sexual violence due to her being transexual. The Supreme Court voted 9 - 0 in favor of Farmer, stating “A prison official’s deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate violates the Eighth Amendment” (Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)). If the Supreme Court rules that the prison administration's “indifference” to the wellbeing of a prisoner violates the Eighth Amendment, then solitary confinement is unconstitutional. In the case of Kalief Browder, his extended time in solitary confinement during his wait for his trial caused him to suffer from severe depression. As a result of his depression which was a direct effect of him being in solitary confinement, he committed suicide at his home. The prison administration put him in solitary confinement fully knowing that it will affect his mental health, while showing a “deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate”.. That is what solitary confinement is used for, to break down prisoners mental states in order to suppress them for breaking the rules. This helps prove that solitary confinement is unconstitutional since prison administration’s use it, disregarding the effects it has on prisoners