I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2488

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide appropriate remedies

with respect to prison conditions.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 17, 1995

Mr. SCHIFF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide

appropriate remedies with respect to prison conditions.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison Judgment Re5 lief Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR PRISON CONDI7 TIONS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3626 of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 3626. Appropriate remedies with respect to prison

2 conditions

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIEF.—

4 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—

5 The court shall not grant or approve any prospective

6 relief unless the court finds that there is a violation

7 of a Federal right and that such relief is narrowly

8 drawn and the least intrusive means to remedy the

9 violation of the Federal right. In determining the in10 trusiveness of the relief, the court shall give substan11 tial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or

12 the operation of a criminal justice system caused by

13 the relief.

14 ‘‘(2) PRISON POPULATION REDUCTION RE15 LIEF.—In any civil action with respect to prison con16 ditions, the court shall not grant or approve any re17 lief whose purpose or effect is to reduce or limit the

18 prison population, unless the plaintiff proves that

19 crowding is the primary cause of the deprivation of

20 the Federal right and no other relief will remedy

21 that deprivation.

22 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF RELIEF.—

23 ‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC TERMINATION OF PROSPEC24 TIVE RELIEF AFTER 4-YEAR PERIOD.—In any civil

25 action with respect to prison conditions, any pro-
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1 spective relief shall automatically terminate 4 years

2 after the later of—

3 ‘‘(A) the date of entry of the final judg4 ment in which the court found the violation of

5 a Federal right that was the basis for the relief;

6 or

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of a final judgment en8 tered more than 4 years before the date of the

9 enactment of the Prison Judgment Relief Act of

10 1995, 180 days after the date of the enactment

11 of such Act.

12 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF PROSPEC13 TIVE RELIEF.—In any civil action with respect to

14 prison conditions, a defendant or intervenor shall be

15 entitled to the immediate termination of any pro16 spective relief, if that relief was approved or granted

17 in the absence of a finding by the court that prison

18 conditions violated a Federal right.

19 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE FOR MOTIONS AFFECTING PRO20 SPECTIVE RELIEF.—The court shall promptly rule on any

21 motion to modify or terminate prospective relief in a civil

22 action with respect to prison conditions.

23 ‘‘(d) STANDING.—Any Federal, State, or local official

24 or unit of government—
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1 ‘‘(1) whose jurisdiction or function includes the

2 prosecution or custody of persons in a prison subject

3 to; or

4 ‘‘(2) who otherwise is or may be affected by;

5 any relief whose purpose or effect is to reduce or limit

6 the prison population shall have standing to oppose the

7 imposition or continuation in effect of that relief and may

8 intervene in any proceeding relating to that relief. Stand9 ing shall be liberally conferred under this subsection so

10 as to effectuate the remedial purposes of this section.

11 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL MASTERS.—In any civil action in a

12 Federal court with respect to prison conditions, any spe13 cial master or monitor shall be a United States magistrate

14 and shall make proposed findings on the record on com15 plicated factual issues submitted to that special master or

16 monitor by the court, but shall have no other function.

17 The parties may not by consent extend the function of

18 a special master beyond that permitted under this sub19 section.

20 ‘‘(f) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—No attorney’s fee under

21 section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United States

22 (42 U.S.C. 1988) may be granted to a plaintiff in a civil

23 action with respect to prison conditions except to the ex24 tent such fee is—
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1 ‘‘(1) directly and reasonably incurred in proving

2 an actual violation of the plaintiff’s Federal rights;

3 and

4 ‘‘(2) proportionally related to the extent the

5 plaintiff obtains court ordered relief for that viola6 tion.’’.

7 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘prison’ means any Federal,

9 State, or local facility that incarcerates or detains

10 juveniles or adults accused of, convicted of, sen11 tenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations

12 of criminal law;

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘relief’ means all relief in any

14 form which may be granted or approved by the

15 court, and includes consent decrees and settlement

16 agreements (except a settlement agreement the

17 breech of which is not subject to any court proceed18 ing which such agreement settled); and

19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘prospective relief’ means all re20 lief other than compensatory monetary damages.’’

21 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—Section 3626 of

22 title 18, United States Code, as amended by this section,

23 shall apply with respect to all relief (as defined in such

24 section) whether such relief was originally granted or ap-
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1 proved before, on, or after the date of the enactment of

2 this Act.

3 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to

4 section 3526 in the table of sections at the beginning of

5 subchapter C of chapter 229 of title 18, United States

6 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘crowding’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘conditions’’.

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