Washington: United States President Barack Obama has announced a ban on solitary confinement for juvenile offenders in the federal prison system and said the practice is overused and has the potential for devastating psychological consequences.
Obama outlined a series of executive actions that also prohibit federal correction officials from punishing prisoners who commit `low level infractions` with solitary confinement, reports The Washington Post.
The new rules also dictate that maximum a prisoner can be punished with solitary confinement for a first offense is 60 days rather than the current maximum of 365 days.
The reforms came six months after Obama, ordered the Justice Department to study how solitary confinement was being used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
