FRONTLINE: Last Days of Solitary: The U.S. is the world leader in solitary confinement, with more than 80,000 American prisoners being held in isolation. But in recent years, more than 30 states have begun to experiment with reforms aimed at reducing the use of solitary.
Last Days of Solitary is a searing, two-hour documentary that offers American television's most comprehensive exploration of this controversial practice, and goes inside one state's ambitious attempt to decrease its use.
Filmed over three years, with immersive, unprecedented access to the solitary unit at Maine State Prison, this documentary portrays - almost in real-time - the psychological disintegration of human beings, and the challenge of how to deal with men considered the most dangerous and difficult in the state. It's a haunting portrait of life in solitary, and a unique document of a risky reform experiment.
With intensity, depth and clarity, Last Days of Solitary shines an unblinking light on a world that until now has been largely hidden from public view.
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