From Isolation to Advocacy: Ending Solitary in Pennsylvania
Shariff Ingram, YSRP Speakers Bureau and Policy Coordinator
On June 4, 2025, I joined organizations from across Pennsylvania in Harrisburg for the “Solitary Rally.” Together, we called for an end to the use of solitary confinement in our state’s prison system—a practice that is cruel, inhumane, and deeply damaging.
I stood with others who have experienced solitary firsthand. One man at the rally had just come home after spending 15 years in solitary confinement without ever receiving an infraction. His story is shocking, but sadly not unique.
Shariff Ingram speaks at June 4 Press Conference in Harrisburg
A Child in an Adult Prison
I am a former child lifer. At 15, I was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison as an adult. When I turned 16 and was transferred to SCI Graterford, I was placed immediately in solitary confinement.
I hadn’t committed any misconduct. I was told it was “for my protection.” Because I was a child in an adult prison, the system’s way of “keeping me safe” was to isolate me alone in a cell for 23 or 24 hours a day, with no human contact, no support, and no path forward.
But let’s be clear: I should never have been there in the first place. Children do not belong in adult prisons. Solitary confinement is not protection. It is punishment and causes lasting harm.
That first placement marked the beginning of nearly a decade in solitary. As a child placed in a violent, high-stress environment, I responded in ways that helped me survive. Instead of receiving care or understanding, I was further isolated—moved through more than a dozen state prisons in Pennsylvania. At one point, I spent two years straight in isolation. I was released for five months, then placed back in solitary for another two years.
Solitary Is Not About Safety
We’re told that solitary is necessary to manage problematic prisoners and to maintain the safety and security of the prison system, but that was not my experience. For me, solitary confinement was used as a tool for punishment and control.
Many of YSRP’s client-partners who have been sentenced to adult prisons are placed in solitary or solitary-like conditions the moment they arrive. It’s labeled “protective custody,” but what it really means is total isolation. The reason they need “protection” is that they are in a system that is not designed for them. They are children who have been failed by systems meant to support them.
Solitary is often the first thing they experience in prison. It leaves a mark that never fades.
Lasting Harm That Extends Beyond the Cell
Solitary confinement is mental, physical, and psychological torture. I’ve been handcuffed and beaten. I’ve been denied food, showers, and the one hour of recreation I was entitled to by law. The goal is not safety—it is to break you.
But the worst part is not what I went through. It’s what I’ve witnessed. I have seen people—some still teenagers—take their own lives inside solitary cells. I will never forget watching a dead body being carried out after a suicide. That image stays with you.
This kind of trauma does not end when someone is released. Most people who experience solitary eventually come home. They become our neighbors, our co-workers, our community members. How do we expect anyone to come back from that and simply “adjust”?
Solitary doesn’t just harm individuals—it undermines public safety. According to a recent Journal of Criminal Justice study:
Formerly incarcerated men in Pennsylvania return to prison at a 6 percent higher rate if they were held in solitary.
Solitary terms longer than 90 days are linked to a 15 to 25 percent increase in re-imprisonment rates.
Solitary confinement does not rehabilitate. It traumatizes.
What You Can Do
We are proud that our advocacy has led to the passage of HB 1577 through the PA House, which limits the use of “room seclusion” and other harmful solitary-like practices in the juvenile system. This bill was been introduced as part of the Care Package, a group of youth justice bills aimed at holding systems accountable and creating real paths to healing. It now goes to the PA Senate, so please call your state senator and ask them to support it!
But we must do more. Right now, Pennsylvania lawmakers have a chance to end this practice. A bill to end solitary confinement is expected to be introduced soon. Call your legislators. Urge them to support eliminating solitary confinement once and for all. We must act. Children do not belong in adult prisons. And no one, especially a child, should be subjected to solitary confinement.
Let’s build a system rooted in dignity, empathy, and healing—not isolation and harm.
