To the Editor:

Rick Raemisch’s essay about sharply reducing the use of solitary confinement in Colorado prisons (“Putting an End to Long-Term Solitary,” Op-Ed, Oct. 13) should be a guideline for every prison and jail in America.

At the Fortune Society, we have worked with thousands of men and women who bear the traumatic scars of solitary and then bring the damage home to their families and their communities.

When prison authorities rely on solitary confinement, they need to ask themselves, How will individuals be able to function in society after living under such dehumanizing conditions? Sadly, the answer is apparent in all-too-frequent news articles describing “inexplicable” violent acts committed by someone just released from prison.

This method of administering severe punishment is a contributing factor to violent crime. Our high recidivism rate is a measure of prisons’ failure. Our penal system sends home angry, traumatized men and women and is rarely held accountable for the violence, rage and mental illness that it creates and then worsens.