II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1524 

To improve the treatment of Federal prisoners who are primary caretaker 

parents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2017 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the treatment of Federal prisoners who are 

primary caretaker parents, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Dignity for Incarcer5 ated Women Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘Dignity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PRIMARY CARETAKER PARENTS 

2 AND OTHER INDIVIDUALS IN FEDERAL PRIS3 ONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 303 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 4050. Treatment of primary caretaker parents and 

8 other individuals 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘correctional officer’ means a cor11 rectional officer of the Bureau of Prisons; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

13 the Bureau of Prisons; 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘primary caretaker parent’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 31903 of the 

16 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

17 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13882); and 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘prisoner’ means an individual 

19 who is incarcerated in a Federal penal or correc20 tional institution. 

21 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC PLACEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—The Direc23 tor shall establish within the Bureau of Prisons an 

24 office that determines the placement of prisoners. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PLACEMENT OF PRISONERS.—In deter2 mining the placement of a prisoner, the office estab3 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) if the prisoner has children, place the 

5 prisoner as close to the children as possible; and 

6 ‘‘(B) consider any other factor that the of7 fice determines appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(c) VISITATION RULES.—The Director shall pro9 mulgate regulations for visitation between prisoners who 

10 are primary caretaker parents and their family members 

11 under which— 

12 ‘‘(1) a prisoner may receive visits not fewer 

13 than 6 days per week, which shall include Saturday 

14 and Sunday; 

15 ‘‘(2) a Federal penal or correctional institution 

16 shall be open for visitation for not fewer than 8 

17 hours per day; 

18 ‘‘(3) a prisoner may have up to 5 adult visitors 

19 and an unlimited number of child visitors per visit; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(4) a prisoner may have physical contact with 

22 visitors unless the prisoner presents an immediate 

23 physical danger to the visitors. 

24 ‘‘(d) PLACEMENT IN SEGREGATED HOUSING UNITS; 

25 PROHIBITION ON SHACKLING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PLACEMENT IN SEGREGATED HOUSING

2 UNITS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal penal or 

4 correctional institution may not place a prisoner 

5 who is pregnant or in the first 8 weeks of 

6 postpartum recovery in a segregated housing 

7 unit unless the prisoner presents an immediate 

8 risk of harm to others or herself. 

9 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTIONS.—Any placement of a 

10 prisoner described in subparagraph (A) in a 

11 segregated housing unit shall be limited and 

12 temporary. 

13 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON SHACKLING.—A Federal 

14 penal or correctional institution may not use instru15 ments of restraint, including handcuffs, chains, 

16 irons, straitjackets, or similar items, on a prisoner 

17 who is pregnant. 

18 ‘‘(e) PARENTING CLASSES.—The Director shall pro19 vide parenting classes to each prisoner who is a primary 

20 caretaker parent. 

21 ‘‘(f) TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

23 trauma-informed care to each prisoner who is diag24 nosed with trauma. 


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1 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION AND REFERRAL.—The 

2 Director shall provide training to each correctional 

3 officer and each other employee of the Bureau of 

4 Prisons who regularly interacts with prisoners, in5 cluding health care professionals and instructors, to 

6 enable the employees to identify prisoners with trau7 ma and refer those prisoners to the proper 

8 healthcare professional for treatment. 

9 ‘‘(g) MENTORING BY FORMER PRISONERS.—The Di10 rector shall promulgate regulations under which an indi11 vidual who was formerly incarcerated in a Federal penal 

12 or correctional institution may access such an institution 

13 to— 

14 ‘‘(1) act as a mentor for prisoners; and 

15 ‘‘(2) assist prisoners in reentry. 

16 ‘‘(h) OMBUDSMAN.—The Attorney General shall des17 ignate an ombudsman to oversee and monitor, with re18 spect to Federal penal and correctional institutions— 

19 ‘‘(1) prisoner transportation; 

20 ‘‘(2) use of segregated housing; 

21 ‘‘(3) strip searches of prisoners; and 

22 ‘‘(4) civil rights violations. 

23 ‘‘(i) TELECOMMUNICATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director— 


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1 ‘‘(A) may not charge a fee for a telephone 

2 call made by a prisoner; and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall make videoconferencing avail4 able to prisoners in each Federal penal or cor5 rectional institution free of charge. 

6 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

7 paragraph (1)(B) shall be construed to authorize the 

8 Director to use videoconferencing as a substitute for 

9 in-person visits. 

10 ‘‘(j) INMATE HEALTH.— 

11 ‘‘(1) HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) AVAILABILITY.—The Director shall 

13 make the healthcare products described in sub14 paragraph (C) available to prisoners for free, in 

15 a quantity that is appropriate to the healthcare 

16 needs of each prisoner. 

17 ‘‘(B) QUALITY OF PRODUCTS.—The Direc18 tor shall ensure that the healthcare products 

19 provided under this paragraph conform with ap20 plicable industry standards. 

21 ‘‘(C) PRODUCTS.—The healthcare products 

22 described in this subparagraph are— 

23 ‘‘(i) tampons; 

24 ‘‘(ii) sanitary napkins; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) moisturizing soap, which may 

2 not be lye-based; 

3 ‘‘(iv) shampoo; 

4 ‘‘(v) body lotion; 

5 ‘‘(vi) Vaseline; 

6 ‘‘(vii) toothpaste; 

7 ‘‘(viii) toothbrushes; 

8 ‘‘(ix) aspirin; 

9 ‘‘(x) ibuprofen; and 

10 ‘‘(xi) any other healthcare product 

11 that the Director determines appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(2) GYNECOLOGIST ACCESS.—The Director 

13 shall ensure that female prisoners have access to a 

14 gynecologist. 

15 ‘‘(k) USE OF SEX-APPROPRIATE CORRECTIONAL OF16 FICERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Director shall pro18 mulgate regulations under which— 

19 ‘‘(A) a correctional officer may not conduct 

20 a strip search of a prisoner of the opposite sex 

21 unless— 

22 ‘‘(i) the prisoner presents a risk of 

23 immediate harm to herself or himself or 

24 others; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) no other correctional officer of 

2 the same sex as the prisoner is available to 

3 assist; and 

4 ‘‘(B) a correctional officer may not enter a 

5 restroom reserved for prisoners of the opposite 

6 sex unless— 

7 ‘‘(i)(I) a prisoner in the restroom pre8 sents a risk of immediate harm to herself 

9 or himself or others; or 

10 ‘‘(II) there is a medical emergency in 

11 the restroom; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) no other correctional officer of 

13 the appropriate sex is available to assist. 

14 ‘‘(2) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

15 paragraph (1) shall be construed to affect the re16 quirements under the Prison Rape Elimination Act 

17 of 2003 (42 U.S.C. 15601 et seq.).’’. 

18 (b) SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT.—Section 

19 3621(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBILITY OF PRIMARY CARETAKER

22 PARENTS AND PREGNANT WOMEN.—The Bureau of 

23 Prisons may not prohibit a prisoner who is a pri24 mary caretaker parent (as defined in section 4050) 

25 or pregnant from participating in a program of resiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Jul 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1524.IS S1524

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1 dential substance abuse treatment provided under 

2 paragraph (1) based on the failure of the individual, 

3 before being committed to the custody of the Bu4 reau, to disclose to any official that the individual 

5 had a substance abuse problem.’’. 

6 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of sections for chapter 303 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

‘‘4050. Treatment of primary caretaker parents and other individuals.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. OVERNIGHT VISIT PILOT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

12 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

13 the Bureau of Prisons; 

14 (2) the term ‘‘primary caretaker parent’’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 31903 of the 

16 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

17 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13882); and 

18 (3) the term ‘‘prisoner’’ means an individual 

19 who is incarcerated in a Federal penal or correc20 tional institution. 

21 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Director shall carry out 

22 a pilot program under which prisoners who are primary 

23 caretaker parents and meet eligibility criteria established 

24 by the Director may receive overnight visits from family 

25 members. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—In establishing eligi2 bility criteria for the pilot program under subsection (b), 

3 the Director shall— 

4 (1) require that a prisoner have displayed good 

5 behavior; and 

6 (2) prohibit participation by any prisoner who 

7 has been convicted of a crime of violence (as defined 

8 in section 16 of title 18, United States Code). 

Æ 


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