Restricting the Use of Solitary Confinement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8155 To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose conditions on the use of solitary confinement in Federal prisons, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose conditions on the use of solitary confinement in Federal prisons, 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 ‘‘Restricting the Use 4 of Solitary Confinement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 301 of title 18, United 7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8155 IH ‘‘§ 4015. Solitary confinement 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any placement of an inmate in 2 solitary confinement shall comply with the following: 3 ‘‘(1) An inmate shall not be placed in solitary 4 confinement unless there is reasonable cause to be- 5 lieve that— 6 ‘‘(A) the inmate would create a substantial 7 risk of immediate serious harm to another, as 8 evidenced by recent threats or conduct; and 9 ‘‘(B) a less restrictive intervention would 10 be insufficient to reduce this risk. 11 The correctional facility shall bear the burden of es- 12 tablishing this standard by clear and convincing evi- 13 dence before any agency review. An inmate who 14 would create a substantial risk of immediate serious 15 harm to self, or who create a substantial risk of im- 16 mediate serious harm to another because of a med- 17 ical reason shall be placed in an appropriate medical 18 facility. 19 ‘‘(2) An inmate shall not be placed in solitary 20 confinement for non-disciplinary reasons. 21 ‘‘(3) An inmate shall not be placed in solitary 22 confinement before receiving a personal and com- 23 prehensive medical and mental health examination 24 conducted by a clinician. A preliminary examination 25 shall be conducted by a member of the medical staff 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8155 IH within 12 hours before confinement and the clinical 1 examination shall be conducted within 48 hours of 2 confinement. 3 ‘‘(4) An inmate shall only be held in solitary 4 confinement pursuant to initial procedures and re- 5 views which provide timely, fair and meaningful op- 6 portunities for the inmate to contest the confinement 7 in such an administrative proceeding as the Director 8 shall establish. These procedures shall include— 9 ‘‘(A) the right to an initial hearing within 10 72 hours of placement and a review every 15 11 days thereafter, in the absence of exceptional 12 circumstances, unavoidable delays, or reason- 13 able postponements; 14 ‘‘(B) the right to appear at the hearing; 15 ‘‘(C) the right to be represented at the 16 hearing pursuant to the Defender Services Pro- 17 gram of the Department of Justice; 18 ‘‘(D) an independent hearing officer; and 19 ‘‘(E) a written statement of reasons for the 20 decision made at the hearing. 21 ‘‘(5) The final decision to place an inmate in 22 solitary confinement shall be made by the adminis- 23 trator of the correctional facility where that inmate 24 is held. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8155 IH ‘‘(6) An inmate shall not be placed or retained 1 in solitary confinement if the administrator deter- 2 mines that the inmate no longer meets the standard 3 for the confinement. 4 ‘‘(7) A clinician shall evaluate each inmate 5 placed in solitary confinement on a daily basis, in a 6 confidential setting outside of the cell whenever pos- 7 sible, to determine whether the inmate is a vulner- 8 able person. 9 ‘‘(8) An inmate shall not be placed in solitary 10 confinement for more than 15 consecutive days, or 11 for more than 20 days during any 60-day period. 12 ‘‘(9) An inmate held in solitary confinement 13 shall not be denied access to food, water, medical 14 care including emergency medical care, or any other 15 basic necessity. 16 ‘‘(10) An inmate shall not be directly released 17 from solitary confinement to the community during 18 the final 180 days of the inmate’s term of incarcer- 19 ation, unless it is necessary for the safety of the in- 20 mate, staff, other inmates, or the public. 21 ‘‘(11) An inmate who is a vulnerable person de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (B), (E), or (F) of sub- 23 section (b)(3), who would otherwise be placed in soli- 24 tary confinement, shall alternately be placed in an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8155 IH appropriate medical or other unit as determined by 1 the administrator. 2 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) CLINICIAN.—The term ‘clinician’ means a 4 Federal or State licensed physician, except that for 5 purposes of mental health evaluations, the term shall 6 include a Federal or State licensed psychiatrist or 7 psychologist, or an advanced practice nurse or clin- 8 ical nurse specialist with a specialty in psychiatric 9 nursing. 10 ‘‘(2) SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.—The term ‘soli- 11 tary confinement’ means confinement of an inmate 12 in a correctional facility, pursuant to disciplinary, 13 administrative, protective, investigative, medical, or 14 other classification, in a cell or similarly confined 15 holding or living space, alone or with other inmates, 16 for approximately 20 hours or more per day, with 17 severely restricted activity, movement, and social 18 interaction. 19 ‘‘(3) VULNERABLE PERSON.—The term ‘vulner- 20 able person’ means any inmate who— 21 ‘‘(A) is 25 years of age or younger; 22 ‘‘(B) is 65 years of age or older; 23 ‘‘(C) has a disability based on a mental ill- 24 ness, a history of psychiatric hospitalization, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8155 IH has recently exhibited conduct, including serious 1 self-mutilation, indicating the need for further 2 observation or evaluation to determine the pres- 3 ence of mental illness; 4 ‘‘(D) has a developmental disability; 5 ‘‘(E) has a serious medical condition which 6 cannot effectively be treated in isolated confine- 7 ment; 8 ‘‘(F) is pregnant, is in the postpartum pe- 9 riod, or has recently suffered a miscarriage or 10 terminated a pregnancy; 11 ‘‘(G) has a significant auditory or visual 12 impairment; or 13 ‘‘(H) is perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisex- 14 ual, transgender, or intersex.’’. 15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘4015. Solitary confinement.’’. SEC. 3. REPORT. 19 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 20 of this Act, the Bureau of Prisons shall prepare, in con- 21 sultation with other entities including human rights advo- 22 cates, mental health experts, academics, and other profes- 23 sionals in the correction and rehabilitation area, and 24 thereafter submit a report to the Committees on the Judi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8155 IH ciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate 1 with recommendations to reduce the use of solitary con- 2 finement in Federal prisons to near zero over the 10-year 3 period beginning on the date of the submission of the re- 4 port. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8155.IH H8155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS