Our Mission
End Solitary WA, led by survivors of solitary confinement, seeks to end the use of solitary confinement in Washington state prisons, jails, and detention centers. Our coalition is supported by a diverse network of allies, including legislators, attorneys, nonprofit advocates, faith leaders, and community organizers.
Photo by Rooted in Rights. All Rights Reserved
What We Do
End Solitary WA aims to reduce the harm inflicted by solitary, to reduce the number of people kept in solitary, and, ultimately, to end the use of solitary entirely. We carry out our work in three ways: designing and advocating for legislative bills, pressing the Department of Corrections to change its policies, and raising public awareness.
Why We Do It
Having lived through the brutality of solitary confinement ourselves, we bear a moral imperative to do all we can to prevent others from experiencing the same harm. We have seen how solitary worsens mental illnesses, ruptures families, undermines social skills, and impairs people's ability to successfully reenter society, contributing directly to homelessness, addiction, and recidivism. The effects of solitary are the precise antithesis of rehabilitation. Ending solitary confinement is necessary to protect human dignity, to prevent profound, irreparable harm in people's lives, and to improve community safety.