Harrisburg, PA (WENY)-- Several lawmakers in Harrisburg are pushing a Bill that would prohibit placing certain inmates in solitary confinement. Proposals have been introduced in both the House and Senate. Senator Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia) and Representative Tina Davis (D-Bucks) are sponsoring Bills to put an end to what they call an inhumane practice.

“Let’s be very clear about this. Solitary confinement is a form of torture, and it must be limited,” Senator Farnese says.

Senate Bill 832 and House Bill 497 would place limitations and restrictions on solitary confinement. It calls for the prohibition of solitary confinement for vulnerable populations. These populations include pregnant women, inmates under 21, inmates over 70, LGBTQ inmates, and inmates with mental health issues. The Bill would also limit solitary confinement for all other inmates to 15 days.

“Our criminal justice system, as it currently stands, is not rehabilitative. Practices such as solitary confinement leave human beings more broken than they were when they entered the prison system,” says Emily Schmidt, an Advocacy Programs Associate for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.

Right now, inmates can be placed in isolation for days, weeks, or months at a time. Experts say solitary confinement can have serious negative psychological and physiological effects. Larry Washington is a former inmate now working as a Senior Coordinator for Mentoring at Sound Community Solutions. He says change needs to be made.

“What we are advocating is solidarity and not solitary. Unification and not separation. When you lock someone up in the hole, you are separating them from what’s normal. So don’t expect them to act normal when they come out, because they’re not receiving normal treatment” Washington explains.

Advocates for the Bill say inmates that serve time in solitary confinement come out of prison angry, and don’t get the proper rehabilitation. They say this causes them to return to prison more often than other inmates.

“The Department of Corrections has a recidivism rate of 65%, meaning that within three years, 65% of the inmates in state prisons return. The ones in RHU (Restrictive Housing Unit), in our estimation, come back much more often,” says John Hargreaves, Volunteer Director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society.

Both the Senate and House Bills are currently sitting in the respective Judiciary Committees awaiting action. No word yet on when or if any will be taken.