Long-term solitary confinement: a violation of human rights?

Hellhole: The United States holds tends of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? by Atul Gawande
The New Yorker (March 30, 2009)

• Gawande shows the negative ramifications of long-term solitary confinement on prisoners, and argues that it is torture to prohibit humans from vital social contacts with other humans.
• Interesting fact from the piece: In 1890, the Supreme Court of the United States nearly deemed long-term solitary confinement unconstitutional. The heavy reliance on solitary confinement within the U.S. is a product of the last couple decades.
• This could lead to fascinating human rights research topics on practices within the United States prison system and comparative work between the U.S. system and other countries' prison practices.