Solitary Confinement in New Mexico: A Review of Policies, Practices, and Inmate Experiences in Isolation

Document Date: February 28, 2019

Download document

Today, the ACLU of New Mexico released a report conducted in concert with University of New Mexico New Mexico researchers, revealing the state’s rate of solitary confinement is more than double what the New Mexico Corrections Department reports. After requesting data under New Mexico’s public records law about how the department calculates solitary confinement, the researchers determined that NMDC failed to include into its calculations several units and security levels where inmates are confined for more than 22 hours a day, leading to a misestimation of the total population in isolation. At a rate of nine percent, New Mexico ranks among the top five states with the greatest percent of inmates in solitary confinement.

Related Content

News & Commentary
Kelly Garcia at New Mexico State Capitol.
  • Criminal Legal Reform

No Solace in Solitary: It’s Long Past Time to Reform New Mexico’s Over-Reliance On A Brutal Practice

Kelly Garcia left Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center nearly six years ago, but sometimes, in her dreams, she finds herself back in a familiar cell. She’s trapped by the same four concrete walls and that same long lonely silence which was pierced only by the occasional cries of inmates worn down by solitude.