A lawsuit filed in March is trying to change the way Pennsylvania handles solitary confinement. There’s a lot of evidence showing the negative mental health effects of isolation, especially on people who already had mental health diagnoses - so why are people put into solitary confinement? Are there limits, and what would this lawsuit change? Dr. Jill McCorkel is a professor of sociology and criminology at Villanova University, and she’s seen the conditions of solitary confinement in many prisons. She joins us to explain this lawsuit, the current rules in various facilities, and the impacts both on individuals and public safety.

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