The Connecticut Department of Correction has agreed to end its longtime practice of in-cell restraints under a settlement announced Thursday, following years of criticism over the treatment of incarcerated people with mental illness in Connecticut.
Settlement Details
The settlement, reached with the American Civil Liberties Union and Disability Rights Connecticut, resolves a yearslong case challenging the department’s use of in-cell restraints on incarcerated people with mental illness. The agreement requires DOC to revise its policy, provide staff training on full-stationary restraints and report their use to the ACLU.
According to an ACLU press release, in-cell restraints — which the ACLU refers to as in-cell shackling — involve “chaining a prisoner’s legs and wrists, binding their hands to their feet with a tether chain, and then leaving them locked in their cell for hours or even days.” Advocates have long argued the practice can worsen symptoms of mental illness and increase the risk of self-harm.
Kasey Considine, legal director of Disability Rights Connecticut, or DRCT, called the policy change “an important step toward protecting incarcerated people with mental health disabilities from unnecessary and harmful restraint.”
While the agreement ends the use of in-cell restraints, it still allows DOC staff to use full-stationary restraints when an incarcerated person poses an immediate risk of harming themselves or others. Full-stationary restraints involve securing a person’s arms and legs to a bed.
Interim Correction Commissioner Sharonda Carlos said in a statement that she remains committed to providing the training and resources necessary to help correctional staff to safely manage challenging situations without the use of in-cell restraints.
The settlement follows a 2021 lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of DRCT that challenged DOC’s use of solitary confinement and in-cell restraints on people with mental illnesses who were held at the Northern Correctional Institution, the state’s former “supermax” prison for high-security incarcerated people.
Reaction and Next Steps
Correction Ombuds DeVaughn Ward said in an emailed statement that he welcomed the agreement, saying the practice “raises serious concerns for safety and mental health care.”
Ward added: “Our office will monitor its implementation to ensure the reforms are carried out in accordance with the settlement, produce meaningful change, and advance the Department’s rehabilitative mission.”
The agreement is slated to take effect on Sept. 1.
Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.
