This paper explores the role of judges in authorising the extension of placements in solitary confinement in Israeli prisons for lengthy periods of time. It qualitatively examines, through content analysis of 354 Israeli court decisions, how judges negotiate and rationalise the harmful effects of solitary confinement when balanced against the prison authorities’ reasoning for subjecting prisoners to it. Finding an overall tendency to defer to the expertise of prison authorities, we examine what Sykes & Matza termed ‘techniques of neutralisation’ used by judges to distance themselves from the responsibility for solitary confinement placements and the hardship they inflict. The paper further discusses the socio-legal and organisational structures and contexts which incentivise the prioritisation of prison security/discipline over the protection of prisoners from the ‘pains of solitary confinement’.

本文探讨了法官在授权延长以色列监狱单独监禁时间的作用。它通过对 354 项以色列法院裁决的内容分析，定性地审查了在与监狱当局对囚犯进行监禁的推理相平衡的情况下，法官如何协商和合理化单独监禁的有害影响。发现一种服从监狱当局专业知识的总体趋势，我们研究了 Sykes 和 Matza 所谓的“中和技术”，这些技术被法官用来远离单独监禁安置的责任及其造成的困难。