a large portion of the court cases addressing solitary confinement have approached the practice as a violation of eighth amendment rights. courts have generally agreed that solitary confinement is, indeed, a violation of the eighth amendment for inmates with preexisting mental illness or juveniles. however, the supreme court concluded that “while there was a risk of serious psychological injury to inmates, that risk was not of ‘sufficiently serious magnitude’ to find a ‘per se’ violation of the eighth amendment for ‘‘all’’ prisoners placed in long-term solitary confinement”. despite recognition of the negative consequences of forced isolation in prisons, the excessive practice of solitary confinement remains constitutional in the united states.