Teenage Girls Do Not Belong In Solitary Confinement
The Tennessee Prison for Women is 200 miles away from Memphis. Its youngest resident is a 16-year old girl from Memphis, and she has been held there in solitary confinement since early October.
She arrived at the prison as a 15-year old facing a first degree murder charge, and despite the seriousness of her charge, she was moved to the prison without notice and with no legal representation whatsoever. The Shelby County Sheriff said that he does not have the ability to care for her and that her transfer was for “safekeeping.” So she spends her days isolated and alone in a cell the size of a walk-in closet. Like many teenage girls, she likes to read young adult fiction, and she loves to sketch. But when she leaves that cell for a shower or a trip to the gym, her hands and feet are shackled.
While her family consistently visited her twice a week when she was being held in Memphis, she had not received a single visitor since September until a visit from two attorneys late last month. She makes daily calls home to her mother and siblings at a rate of $12/hour.
These conditions could hardly be worse for a teenage girl. Everything we know about brain development, youth detention, and rehabilitation warns us against isolation like this. Throw in the adult maximum security protocol that is being used on her, and this young woman is living a nightmare. A developing brain cannot tolerate this treatment. Perhaps the worst part: she has not been convicted of anything. In fact, she was only indicted after her attorneys filed a motion to dismiss last week.
The practice of holding children in solitary confinement violates every commonly accepted best practice about how to safely and appropriately detain children, as well as our community’s principles of basic decency and good sense. Governor Haslam’s recent Juvenile Justice Realignment Task Force spent most of last year focused on reforming policies and techniques that were overly punitive and focused instead on rehabilitating children that come into contact with the justice system. These detention practices — implemented in the name of all Shelby County citizens — make a mockery of that vision.
The Shelby County Sheriff and the County Attorney have sent teenage girls to solitary confinement at adult prisons in the past, and they will continue to do so unless they are forced to stop. If the Sheriff lacks the facilities and staff to detain girls, he must follow the law and find the nearest sufficient jail. He cannot continue to send them to adult prisons to be held in solitary confinement while they await trial.
Shelby County is shirking its duty to provide a safe, secure, age-appropriate facility for girls. When we found out about this situation, Just City organized a legal team that will work to have this girl moved from the Tennessee Prison for Women to a youth facility that can better serve her very critical needs. We are working with other advocates from across the state and are exploring all options. For example, Davidson County has a youth facility, and they are offering to hold this young woman and provide her supportive services and safety. If she must be 200 miles away, she should at the very least be in contact with other people her age and be given appropriate and therapeutic treatment.
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UPDATES:
We are working hard to end this practice and force Shelby County to provide adequate housing for this girl. Read more about our efforts in court here.
The Shelby County Sheriff compared solitary confinement to having a “private room.”
The practice of “safekeeping” is widely used in Tennessee and often results in people, who are not convicted of any crime, spending lots of time in solitary confinement. Read more about that here.
Sign this petition demanding that Shelby County stop the practice of sending girls to solitary confinement in a women’s prison.
