Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4488 To develop and implement national standards for the use of solitary confinement in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 Mr. RICHMOND (for himself and Mr. WALKER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To develop and implement national standards for the use of solitary confinement in correctional facilities, 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 ‘‘Solitary Confinement 4 Study and Reform Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are to— 7 (1) develop and implement national standards 8 for the use of solitary confinement to ensure that it 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4488 IH is used infrequently and only under extreme cir- 1 cumstances; 2 (2) establish a more humane and constitu- 3 tionally sound practice of segregated detention or 4 solitary confinement in correctional facilities; 5 (3) accelerate the development of best practices 6 and make reforming solitary confinement a top pri- 7 ority in each correctional facility at the Federal and 8 State levels; 9 (4) increase the available data and information 10 on the incidence of solitary confinement, con- 11 sequently improving the management and adminis- 12 tration of correctional facilities; 13 (5) standardize the definitions used for col- 14 lecting data on the incidence of solitary confinement; 15 (6) increase the accountability of correctional 16 facility officials who fail to design and implement 17 humane and constitutionally sound solitary confine- 18 ment practices; 19 (7) protect the Eighth Amendment rights of in- 20 mates at correctional facilities; and 21 (8) reduce the costs that solitary confinement 22 imposes on interstate commerce. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4488 IH SEC. 3. NATIONAL SOLITARY CONFINEMENT STUDY AND 1 REFORM COMMISSION. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com- 3 mission to be known as the National Solitary Confinement 4 Study and Reform Commission. 5 (b) MEMBERS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 7 composed of 9 members, of whom— 8 (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President; 9 (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 10 the House of Representatives, unless the Speak- 11 er is of the same party as the President, in 12 which case 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker 13 of the House of Representatives and 1 shall be 14 appointed by the minority leader of the House 15 of Representatives; 16 (C) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 17 leader of the House of Representatives (in addi- 18 tion to any appointment made under subpara- 19 graph (B)); 20 (D) 2 shall be appointed by the majority 21 leader of the Senate, unless the majority leader 22 is of the same party as the President, in which 23 case 1 shall be appointed by the majority leader 24 of the Senate and 1 shall be appointed by the 25 minority leader of the Senate; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4488 IH (E) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 1 leader of the Senate (in addition to any ap- 2 pointment made under subparagraph (D)). 3 (2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE.—Each member of the 4 Commission shall be an individual who has knowl- 5 edge or expertise in matters to be studied by the 6 Commission. 7 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The President, 8 the Speaker, and the minority leader of the House 9 of Representatives, and the majority leader and mi- 10 nority leader of the Senate shall consult with one an- 11 other prior to the appointment of the members of 12 the Commission to achieve, to the maximum extent 13 possible, fair and equitable representation of various 14 points of view with respect to the matters to be 15 studied by the Commission. 16 (4) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed 17 for the life of the Commission. 18 (5) TIME FOR INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The 19 appointment of the members shall be made not later 20 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 21 Act. 22 (6) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 23 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 24 appointment was made, and shall be made not later 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4488 IH than 60 days after the date on which the vacancy 1 occurred. 2 (c) OPERATION.— 3 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—Not later than 15 days 4 after appointments of all the members are made, the 5 President shall appoint a chairperson for the Com- 6 mission from among its members. 7 (2) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 8 the call of the chairperson. The initial meeting of the 9 Commission shall take place not later than 30 days 10 after the initial appointment of the members is com- 11 pleted. 12 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 13 the Commission shall constitute a quorum to con- 14 duct business, but the Commission may establish a 15 lesser quorum for conducting hearings scheduled by 16 the Commission. 17 (4) RULES.—The Commission may establish by 18 majority vote any other rules for the conduct of 19 Commission business, if such rules are not incon- 20 sistent with this Act or other applicable law. 21 (d) COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE IMPACTS OF 22 SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall carry 24 out a comprehensive legal and factual study of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4488 IH penological, physical, mental, medical, social, fiscal, 1 and economic impacts of solitary confinement in the 2 United States on— 3 (A) Federal, State, and local governments; 4 and 5 (B) communities and social institutions 6 generally, including individuals, families, and 7 businesses within such communities and social 8 institutions. 9 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The study under 10 paragraph (1) shall include— 11 (A) a review of existing Federal, State, 12 and local government policies and practices with 13 respect to the extent and duration of the use of 14 solitary confinement; 15 (B) an assessment of the relationship be- 16 tween solitary confinement and correctional fa- 17 cility conditions, and existing monitoring, regu- 18 latory, and enforcement practices; 19 (C) an assessment of the characteristics of 20 prisoners and juvenile detainees most likely to 21 be referred to solitary confinement and the ef- 22 fectiveness of various types of treatment or pro- 23 grams to reduce such likelihood; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4488 IH (D) an assessment of the impacts of soli- 1 tary confinement on individuals, families, social 2 institutions, and the economy generally; 3 (E) an identification of additional scientific 4 and social science research needed on the preva- 5 lence of solitary confinement in correctional fa- 6 cilities as well as a full assessment of existing 7 literature; 8 (F) an assessment of the general relation- 9 ship between solitary confinement and mental 10 illness; 11 (G) an assessment of the relationship be- 12 tween solitary confinement and levels of train- 13 ing, supervision, and discipline of the staff of 14 correctional facilities; and 15 (H) an assessment of existing Federal and 16 State systems for collecting and reporting the 17 number and duration of solitary confinement 18 incidents in correctional facilities nationwide. 19 (3) REPORT.— 20 (A) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than two 21 years after the date of the initial meeting of the 22 Commission, the Commission shall submit a re- 23 port on the study carried out under this sub- 24 section to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4488 IH (i) the President; 1 (ii) the Congress; 2 (iii) the Attorney General of the 3 United States; 4 (iv) the Secretary of Health and 5 Human Services; 6 (v) the Director of the Federal Bu- 7 reau of Prisons; 8 (vi) the Administrator of the Office of 9 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven- 10 tion; 11 (vii) the chief executive of each State; 12 and 13 (viii) the head of the department of 14 corrections of each State. 15 (B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub- 16 paragraph (A) shall include— 17 (i) the findings and conclusions of the 18 Commission; 19 (ii) the recommended national stand- 20 ards for reducing the use of solitary con- 21 finement described in subsection (e); and 22 (iii) a summary of the materials relied 23 on by the Commission in the preparation 24 of the report. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4488 IH (e) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the report sub- 2 mitted under subsection (d)(3), the Commission 3 shall provide the Attorney General and the Secretary 4 of Health and Human Services with recommended 5 national standards for significantly reducing the use 6 of solitary confinement in correctional facilities. 7 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The information 8 provided under paragraph (1) shall include rec- 9 ommended national standards relating to— 10 (A) how authorities can progress toward 11 significantly limiting the utilization of solitary 12 confinement so that a prisoner may be placed 13 in solitary confinement only under extreme 14 emergency circumstances, as a last resort, for 15 as short a time as possible, subject to inde- 16 pendent review, and pursuant to the authoriza- 17 tion of a competent authority; 18 (B) methods that can be employed to en- 19 sure that the duration of solitary confinement 20 of a prisoner at an institution can be limited to 21 no more than 15 consecutive days in a 60-day 22 period, except that if the head of a correctional 23 facility makes an individualized determination 24 that the prisoner cannot be safely returned to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4488 IH the general population, the head of the correc- 1 tional facility may continue to segregate the 2 prisoner from the general population without 3 the use of solitary confinement and in accord- 4 ance with the United Nations Standard Min- 5 imum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners; 6 (C) ensuring that prior to being classified, 7 assigned, or subject to long-term segregation, a 8 prisoner shall be entitled to a meaningful hear- 9 ing on the reason for and duration of the con- 10 finement and have access to legal counsel for 11 such hearings; 12 (D) ensuring that indefinite sentencing of 13 a prisoner to long-term segregation will not be 14 allowed and that the prisoner will be afforded 15 a meaningful review of the segregation at least 16 once every 30 days that the prisoner remains in 17 segregation and that correctional facility offi- 18 cials must record and provide a transcript of 19 the review proceedings for the prisoner under 20 review to the prisoner or the prisoner’s des- 21 ignee; 22 (E) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 23 cials design and implement programming that 24 allows prisoners subject to long-term segrega- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4488 IH tion to earn placement in less restrictive hous- 1 ing through positive behavior; 2 (F) ensuring that protective custody and 3 other custody designations designed to protect 4 vulnerable prisoners, regardless of the reason 5 for vulnerability, are not characterized by soli- 6 tary confinement or other type of isolation con- 7 ditions, and that prisoners placed in protective 8 custody have access to programs, privileges, 9 education, and work opportunities commensu- 10 rate with general population prisoners to the 11 extent possible; 12 (G) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 13 cials improve access to mental health treatment 14 for prisoners in solitary confinement; 15 (H) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 16 cials work toward systems wherein prisoners di- 17 agnosed by a qualified mental health profes- 18 sional with a serious mental illness are not held 19 in long-term solitary confinement; 20 (I) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 21 cials do all that is feasible to make certain that 22 prisoners are not held in solitary confinement 23 for any duration; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4488 IH (J) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 1 cials develop alternative methods to manage 2 issues with prisoners other than solitary con- 3 finement; 4 (K) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 5 cers do all that is feasible to make certain that 6 prisoners with mental health, physical, or cog- 7 nitive disabilities are not held in solitary con- 8 finement for any duration; 9 (L) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 10 cers do all that is feasible to make certain that 11 pregnant and post-partum women are not held 12 in solitary confinement for any duration; 13 (M) ensuring that correctional facility offi- 14 cers work towards systems that limit the cir- 15 cumstances and conditions under which juve- 16 niles are placed in solitary confinement, in com- 17 pliance with section 5043 of title 18, United 18 States Code; and 19 (N) such other matters as may reasonably 20 be related to the goal of reducing solitary con- 21 finement in correctional facilities. 22 (3) LIMITATION.—The Commission shall not 23 propose a recommended standard that would impose 24 substantial additional costs compared to the costs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 4488 IH presently expended by correctional facilities, and 1 shall seek to propose standards that reduce the costs 2 of incarceration at such facilities. 3 (f) CONSUL [Text truncated for display. 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