CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia has stopped using solitary confinement to punish juvenile offenders in response to a lawsuit by two inmates at Industrial Home for Youth in Salem.

Division of Juvenile Services director Dale Humphreys says that he ordered an end to the practice this week.

The order came after the inmates' lawyers contacted the agency last week. Mountain State Justice filed the lawsuit Tuesday with the state Supreme Court.

The lawsuit claims inmates are illegally placed in solitary confinement, denied adequate access to exercise and educational materials, and strip searched.

Humphreys says state lawyers believe a state law prohibiting solitary confinement for juvenile offenders has been violated for years.

The state Supreme Court has hired of a monitor to examine the state's juvenile justice system.