President Obama says he is banning the use of solitary confinement for juveniles and low-level offenders in federal prisons. He outlined the new measures in a Washington Post op-ed, writing: “How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity.” This comes as the Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners convicted of murder as juveniles will have a chance at parole. In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles, but left open to interpretation whether this would be applied retroactively to people convicted of murder. In a 6-3 decision Monday, the Supreme Court ruled the new law does apply retroactively, offering more than 1,000 people currently serving such life sentences the opportunity for parole.