within the us legal system, too, courts have held that the solitary confinement of the mentally ill is “cruel and unusual”. in fact, david fathi, director of the aclu's national prison project, found that “every federal court that has considered claims by severely mentally ill prisoners held in solitary confinement has found this treatment unconstitutional”. these court rulings are significant in light of the fact that more than half of the prisoners currently serving jail time in the us are mentally ill according to the us bureau of prisons. furthermore, approximately 30% or more of prisoners in solitary confinement are mentally ill. these rulings have the potential to dramatically change how prisons deal with mentally ill inmates, as prison officials would no longer be able to “warehouse” “difficult” prisoners if they have a preexisting mental illness. these rulings do not guarantee that the mentally ill will not be put in solitary confinement; although they are considered a vulnerable group, these prisoners still have “limited” recourse to the eighth amendment.