- Criminal Justice- Race & Ethnicity- Public Health In 1890, the Supreme Court called solitary confinement “barbaric,” speculating that it would be abandoned altogether as a correctional practice. But now, nearly 130 years later, it’s clear that their prediction couldn’t have been more wrong. Professor Keramet Reiter tells the story of how solitary confinement became so widespread in the US, what this practice means for prisoners, and what can be done to change the system. Check out Reiter’s book, 23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary ConfinementListen to her interview on NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast