PAYING the PRICE for
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Over the past few decades, United States corrections
systems have increasingly relied on the use of solitary
confinement as a tool to manage certain incarcerated
populations. Prisoners in solitary confinement remain
alone in their cells for 22-24 hours per day – for months,
years, and even decades at a time. This practice, which
has been shown to be inhumane and ineffective, is also
extremely costly. Though limited nationwide data exists,
state data suggests that the cost of housing a prisoner in
solitary confinement is 2-3 times that of housing a
prisoner in general population. 1
Why is Solitary More Expensive?
Holding prisoners in solitary confinement is resourceintensive from start to finish. Below are two of the biggest
costs associated with the use of solitary confinement.
Construction: To accommodate the vast numbers of
prisoners kept in solitary confinement, a new kind of
prison has emerged. So-called “supermax” prisons hold
entire prison populations in extreme isolation and are
currently operating in 44 states and the federal
government 2. Because of their reliance on single-cell
confinement and enhanced security technology, these
facilities can cost two or three times as much as
conventional facilities to construct. 3
Staffing: Ongoing operating costs for isolation units and
facilities are also inflated as a result of more demanding
staffing requirements. Prisoners in solitary confinement
are usually required to be escorted by two or more
officers any time they leave their cells, and work that in
other prisons would be performed by prisoners (such as
cooking and cleaning) must be done by paid staff. Because
of increased security
protocols, staff must
also take the time to
perform
regular
searches on prisoners
4
held in solitary confinement.

How Much More Does It Cost?
The high costs of solitary confinement have been
documented by many states as well as the federal
government. Below are some examples:
States:
• Arizona: A 2007 estimate from Arizona put the
annual cost of holding a prisoner in solitary
confinement at approximately $50,000, compared
to about $20,000 for the average prisoner. 5
• California: For 2010-2011, inmates in isolation at
Pelican Bay State Prison’s Administrative
Segregation Unit cost $77,740 annually, while
inmates in general population cost $58,324. 6
Statewide, taxpayers pay an additional $175
million annually to keep prisoners in solitary
confinement. 7
• Connecticut: In Connecticut, housing a prisoner in
solitary confinement costs an average of twice as
much as housing a prisoner in general
population. 8
• Maryland: In Maryland, the average cost of
housing a prisoner in segregation is three times
greater than that of housing a prisoner in general
population. 9
• Ohio: The average cost of housing a prisoner in
segregation is twice as high as that of housing a
prisoner in general population. 10
• Texas: in Texas the cost of housing a prisoner in
solitary confinement is 45% greater than that of
housing a prisoner in general population. 11
Federal: In 2013, the U.S. Government Accountability
Office reported that segregation units in federal facilities
are significantly more expensive to operate than
traditional maximum-security units. Incarceration in a
federal supermax facility cost 153% more than
incarceration in general population in 2013. 12 In that year,
the daily cost per inmate at the federal supermax facility
ADX Florence is approximately $216.12, compared with
$85.74 for the general population. 13 This disparity is

largely due to the high staffing needs: at one federal
prison, the correctional officer-to-prisoner ratio was
three times higher in the isolation unit as in the general
population. 14 In addition, construction costs for ADX
Florence were $60 million – over $122,000 per bed. 15
Despite these enormous costs, states and the federal
government continue to invest scarce taxpayer dollars in
constructing supermax prisons and enforcing solitary
confinement conditions. Yet there are stark new fiscal
realities facing our communities today and for the
foreseeable future. Both state and federal governments
confront reduced revenue and mounting debt that are
leading to severe cuts in essential public services like
health and education. Given these harsh new realities, it
is unquestionably time to ask whether we should continue
to rely on solitary confinement and supermax prisons
despite the high fiscal and human costs they impose.

What Can We Do About it?
Solitary confinement is inhumane, ineffective, and
overused. Many states have already reaped the financial
benefits of reducing their isolated populations – here are
a few examples:
MISSISSIPPI closed a unit in 2010 that once held 1000
prisoners in isolation, 16 resulting in a savings of an
estimated $8 million per year. 17
ILLINOIS closed Tamms supermax facility in 2013,
reportedly saving the state approximately $26 million per
year. 18
COLORADO closed a 316-bed administrative segregation
facility, which was projected to save $13.6 million in
Fiscal Year 2013-14. 19

Learn more at www.aclu.org/stopsolitary
1

Daniel P. Mears & Jamie Watson, Towards a Fair and Balanced Assessment of Supermax
Prisons, 23 JUST. Q. 233, 260 (2006), available at
https://starcafe.org/hj/library/towards%20a%20fair%20and%20balanced%20assessment%20of%20supermax%20priso
ns.pdf.
2
DANIEL P. MEARS, URBAN INST., EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPERMAX PRISONS 4 (2006), available at
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/211971.pdf.
MEARS & WATSON, supra note 1, at 260.
4
DANIEL P. MEARS & WILLIAM D. BALES, SUPERMAX INCARCERATION AND RECIDIVISM, 47 CRIMINOLOGY 1131, 1135 (2009), available
at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00171.x/abstract (abstract only).
5
CAROLINE ISAACS & MATTHEW LOWEN, AM. FRIENDS SERV. COMM., BURIED
ALIVE: SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN ARIZONA’S PRISONS AND JAILS 4 (2007), available at
https://afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/documents/Buried%20Alive.pdf.
6
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (2011). Pelican Bay:
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/COMIO/Uploadfile/pdfs/Pelican_Bay.pdf.
7
SAL RODRIGUEZ, SOLITARY WATCH, FACT SHEET: THE HIGH COST OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT 1 (2012).
8
Id. at 26
9
Mears, supra note 2, at 20.
10
Id. at 26
11
Id. at 33
12
Alison Shames, Jessa Wilcox & Ram Subramanian, VERA Institute of Justice, Solitary confinement: Common
Misconceptions and Emerging Safe Alternatives 25 (2015), available at http://www.vera.org/pubs/solitaryconfinement-misconceptions-safe-alternatives.
13
US GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE (GAO), IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN BUREAU OF PRISONS’ MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF
SEGREGATED HOUSING 32 (2013).
14
GAO, supra note 12,. at 30.
15
Fox News (2006), Supermax Prisons: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194306,00.html.
16
See TERRY A. KUPERS, ET AL., BEYOND SUPERMAX ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION: MISSISSIPPI’S EXPERIENCE RETHINKING PRISON
CLASSIFICATION AND CREATING ALTERNATIVE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS, 36 CRIM. JUST. & BEHAV. 1037, 1041 (2009); JOHN
BUNTIN, EXODUS: HOW AMERICA’S REDDEST STATE – AND ITS MOST NOTORIOUS PRISON – BECAME A MODEL OF CORRECTIONS REFORM,
23 GOVERNING 20, 27 (2010).
17
Transcript of Proceedings at 8, Presley v. Epps, No. 4:05-CV-00148-JAD (N.D. Miss. Aug. 2, 2010).
18
http://www.sj-r.com/x221030937/Heather-Rice-Close-Tamms-limit-use-of-solitary-confinement
19
News Release, Department of Corrections, The Department of Corrections Announces the Closure of Colorado
State Penitentiary II (March 19, 2012), available at
http://www.doc.state.co.us/sites/default/files/Press%20release%20CSP%20II%20close%20%20Feb%201%202013.pdf.
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