What This Bill Does
This bill prevents discrimination and retaliation against incarcerated workers. It makes prison work voluntary instead of required and removes a rule that incarcerated people must exhaust (use up) internal complaint processes before filing legal claims about prison conditions.
Who It Affects
Incarcerated people in federal, state and local jails and prisons, correctional facilities operated by private companies under contract, government agencies that run correctional facilities, and private companies that operate correctional facilities.
Key Provisions
• Prison officials cannot require incarcerated people to participate in work programs (Sec. 2)
• Incarcerated people can file lawsuits about prison conditions without first going through the facility's internal complaint process (Sec. 3)
• Prison officials cannot punish or retaliate against incarcerated people who refuse to work (Sec. 4)
• Correctional facilities must follow federal nondiscrimination laws that protect workers, including people with disabilities (Sec. 5)
• Each agency running a correctional facility must provide written notice of rights under disability laws, create policies to follow those laws, prepare annual reports on compliance and submit those reports to the Attorney General for public release (Sec. 5)
What Changes
Incarcerated people gain the right to refuse work without punishment. They can sue about prison conditions immediately without waiting for internal responses. Federal nondiscrimination laws now apply to incarcerated workers in the same way they apply to other workers. Correctional facilities must evaluate and report on their compliance with disability rights laws.
Important Definitions
Correctional facility: A jail, prison or detention facility used to house people arrested, detained, held or convicted by a criminal justice agency or court (Sec. 5)
Incarcerated worker: A person confined in a correctional facility who performs labor offered or required by the facility, including work in prison programs, work release programs, UNICOR (a federal prison industry program), state prison industries, public works programs, restitution centers or facility operations and maintenance (Sec. 5)
Effective Date
The rule eliminating the internal complaint requirement applies to lawsuits filed on or after the date the bill becomes law (Sec. 3). Not specified in bill text for other provisions.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 517
To prevent discrimination and retaliation against incarcerated workers, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prevent discrimination and retaliation against
incarcerated workers, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Workplace
4
Discrimination in Correctional Facilities Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF REQUIRED PARTICIPATION IN
6
THE INMATE WORK PROGRAM.
7
(a) UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 4001(b) of title
8
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
9
the following:
10
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‘‘(3) The Attorney General may not require inmates
1
to participate in a work program.’’.
2
(b) CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—The Attor-
3
ney General shall amend sections 545.20 and 545.23 of
4
title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, and any other regu-
5
lations necessary, to comply with the amendment made in
6
paragraph (1).
7
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXHAUSTION
8
REQUIREMENT.
9
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the Civil Rights
10
of Institutionalized Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(a)) is
11
amended to read as follows:
12
‘‘(a)
ADMINISTRATIVE
EXHAUSTION
NOT
RE-
13
QUIRED.—A prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other
14
correctional facility may bring an action with respect to
15
prison conditions under section 1979 of the Revised Stat-
16
utes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983) or another
17
Federal law without regard to whether the prisoner has
18
exhausted the administrative remedies that are avail-
19
able.’’.
20
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub-
21
section (a) shall apply with respect to any action that is
22
filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON RETALIATION AND DISCIPLINE
1
FOR REFUSAL TO WORK.
2
(a) PROHIBITION OF RETALIATION FOR REFUSAL TO
3
WORK.—Section 6 of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized
4
Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997d) is amended—
5
(1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)
6
REPORTING VIOLATIONS.—No person’’; and
7
(2) by adding at the end:
8
‘‘(b) REFUSAL TO WORK.—No prisoner (as defined
9
in section 7) shall be subjected to retaliation in any man-
10
ner for refusal to work.’’.
11
(b) LIMITATION ON DISCIPLINE.—
12
(1) UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 4042 of
13
title 18, United States Code, is amended—
14
(A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
15
section (e); and
16
(B) by inserting after subsection (c) the
17
following:
18
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DISCIPLINE.—The Director of
19
the Bureau of Prisons may not discipline a prisoner for
20
refusing to work.’’.
21
(2) CODE
OF
FEDERAL
REGULATIONS.—The
22
Attorney General shall amend sections 541.3 and
23
545.24(c) of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations,
24
and any other regulations necessary, to comply with
25
the amendment made in paragraph (1).
26
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•S 517 IS
SEC. 5. NONDISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT AND PUB-
1
LIC SERVICES.
2
(a) CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.—
3
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 701 of the Civil
4
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e) is amended—
5
(A) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘(in-
6
cluding an entity that operates, directly or by
7
contract, a correctional facility, with respect to
8
employment of persons including incarcerated
9
workers)’’ after ‘‘industry affecting commerce’’;
10
(B) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘(includ-
11
ing an incarcerated worker)’’ after ‘‘an indi-
12
vidual’’ the first place it appears; and
13
(C) by adding at the end the following:
14
‘‘(o) The term ‘correctional facility’ means a jail,
15
prison, or other detention facility used to house people who
16
have been arrested, detained, held, or convicted by a crimi-
17
nal justice agency or a court.
18
‘‘(p) In subsections (b) and (f), the term ‘employ’ has
19
the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Fair Labor
20
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).
21
‘‘(q) The term ‘incarcerated worker’ means an indi-
22
vidual, incarcerated or detained in a correctional facility
23
operated by a public agency or by a private entity through
24
a contract with a public agency, who performs labor of-
25
fered or required by or through the correctional facility,
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•S 517 IS
including labor associated with prison work programs,
1
work release programs, the UNICOR program, State pris-
2
on industries, public works programs, restitution centers,
3
and correctional facility operations and maintenance.’’.
4
(2) EXCEPTION.—Section 703(a)(2) of the Civil
5
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2(a)(2)) is
6
amended by inserting ‘‘, except that a correctional
7
facility may segregate incarcerated workers into sep-
8
arate facilities by sex if necessary to maintain pri-
9
vacy or institutional order’’ before the period.
10
(3)
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section
11
717(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
12
2000e–16(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
13
following: ‘‘This section shall not apply to a Federal
14
department, agency, or unit that operates, directly
15
or by contract, a correctional facility, with respect to
16
employment of persons including incarcerated work-
17
ers.’’.
18
(b) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990;
19
REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.—
20
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency that operates a
21
correctional facility (directly or by contract with a
22
private entity) shall—
23
(A) provide to each incarcerated worker
24
notice of the worker’s rights under the Ameri-
25
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•S 517 IS
cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
1
12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Rehabili-
2
tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), with re-
3
spect to the correctional facilities that the agen-
4
cy operates;
5
(B) implement policies and training to en-
6
sure compliance with the Americans with Dis-
7
abilities Act of 1990 and section 504 of the Re-
8
habilitation Act of 1973, with respect to those
9
facilities;
10
(C) annually prepare a report that con-
11
tains an evaluation of the agency’s compliance
12
with the Americans with Disabilities Act of
13
1990 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
14
of 1973, with respect to those facilities; and
15
(D) submit the report described in sub-
16
paragraph (C) to the Attorney General, who
17
shall make the report publicly available on the
18
website of the Department of Justice.
19
(2) NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Attorney General
20
shall determine, and implement, appropriate rem-
21
edies for the failure of an agency covered by para-
22
graph (1) to submit a report required by paragraph
23
(1).
24
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•S 517 IS
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms
1
‘‘correctional facility’’ and ‘‘incarcerated worker’’
2
have the meanings given the terms in section 701 of
3
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e), as
4
amended by this Act.
5
Æ
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