I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3399 

To develop and implement national standards for the use of solitary 

confinement in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. CLYBURN) 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. 

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 ‘‘The Solitary Confine5 ment Study and Reform Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 

8 (1) develop and implement national standards 

9 for the use of solitary confinement to ensure that it 


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1 is used infrequently and only under extreme cir2 cumstances; 

3 (2) establish a more humane and constitu4 tionally sound practice of segregated detention or 

5 solitary confinement in correctional facilities; 

6 (3) accelerate the development of best practices 

7 and make reforming solitary confinement a top pri8 ority in each correctional facility at the Federal and 

9 State levels; 

10 (4) increase the available data and information 

11 on the incidence of solitary confinement, con12 sequently improving the management and adminis13 tration of correctional facilities; 

14 (5) standardize the definitions used for col15 lecting data on the incidence of solitary confinement; 

16 (6) increase the accountability of correctional 

17 facility officials who fail to design and implement 

18 humane and constitutionally sound solitary confine19 ment practices; 

20 (7) protect the Eighth Amendment rights of in21 mates at correctional facilities; and 

22 (8) reduce the costs that solitary confinement 

23 imposes on interstate commerce. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SOLITARY CONFINEMENT STUDY AND 

2 REFORM COMMISSION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com4 mission to be known as the National Solitary Confinement 

5 Study and Reform Commission. 

6 (b) MEMBERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

8 composed of 9 members, of whom— 

9 (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President; 

10 (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

11 the House of Representatives, unless the Speak12 er is of the same party as the President, in 

13 which case 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker 

14 of the House of Representatives and 1 shall be 

15 appointed by the minority leader of the House 

16 of Representatives; 

17 (C) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

18 leader of the House of Representatives (in addi19 tion to any appointment made under subpara20 graph (B)); 

21 (D) 2 shall be appointed by the majority 

22 leader of the Senate, unless the majority leader 

23 is of the same party as the President, in which 

24 case 1 shall be appointed by the majority leader 

25 of the Senate and 1 shall be appointed by the 

26 minority leader of the Senate; and 


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1 (E) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

2 leader of the Senate (in addition to any ap3 pointment made under subparagraph (D)). 

4 (2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE.—Each member of the 

5 Commission shall be an individual who has knowl6 edge or expertise in matters to be studied by the 

7 Commission. 

8 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The President, 

9 the Speaker and minority leader of the House of 

10 Representatives, and the majority leader and minor11 ity leader of the Senate shall consult with one an12 other prior to the appointment of the members of 

13 the Commission to achieve, to the maximum extent 

14 possible, fair and equitable representation of various 

15 points of view with respect to the matters to be 

16 studied by the Commission. 

17 (4) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed 

18 for the life of the Commission. 

19 (5) TIME FOR INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The 

20 appointment of the members shall be made not later 

21 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act. 

23 (6) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

24 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

25 appointment was made, and shall be made not later 


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1 than 60 days after the date on which the vacancy 

2 occurred. 

3 (c) OPERATION.— 

4 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—Not later than 15 days 

5 after appointments of all the members are made, the 

6 President shall appoint a chairperson for the Com7 mission from among its members. 

8 (2) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

9 the call of the chairperson. The initial meeting of the 

10 Commission shall take place not later than 30 days 

11 after the initial appointment of the members is com12 pleted. 

13 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

14 the Commission shall constitute a quorum to con15 duct business, but the Commission may establish a 

16 lesser quorum for conducting hearings scheduled by 

17 the Commission. 

18 (4) RULES.—The Commission may establish by 

19 majority vote any other rules for the conduct of 

20 Commission business, if such rules are not incon21 sistent with this Act or other applicable law. 

22 (d) COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE IMPACTS OF

23 SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall carry 

25 out a comprehensive legal and factual study of the 


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1 penological, physical, mental, medical, social, fiscal, 

2 and economic impacts of solitary confinement in the 

3 United States on— 

4 (A) Federal, State, and local governments; 

5 and 

6 (B) communities and social institutions 

7 generally, including individuals, families, and 

8 businesses within such communities and social 

9 institutions. 

10 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The study under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) a review of existing Federal, State, 

13 and local government policies and practices with 

14 respect to the extent and duration of the use of 

15 solitary confinement; 

16 (B) an assessment of the relationship be17 tween solitary confinement and correctional fa18 cility conditions, and existing monitoring, regu19 latory, and enforcement practices; 

20 (C) an assessment of the characteristics of 

21 prisoners and juvenile detainees most likely to 

22 be referred to solitary confinement and the ef23 fectiveness of various types of treatment or pro24 grams to reduce such likelihood; 


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1 (D) an assessment of the impacts of soli2 tary confinement on individuals, families, social 

3 institutions, and the economy generally; 

4 (E) an identification of additional scientific 

5 and social science research needed on the preva6 lence of solitary confinement in correctional fa7 cilities as well as a full assessment of existing 

8 literature; 

9 (F) an assessment of the general relation10 ship between solitary confinement and mental 

11 illness; 

12 (G) an assessment of the relationship be13 tween solitary confinement and levels of train14 ing, supervision, and discipline of the staff of 

15 correctional facilities; and 

16 (H) an assessment of existing Federal and 

17 State systems for collecting and reporting the 

18 number and duration of solitary confinement 

19 incidents in correctional facilities nationwide. 

20 (3) REPORT.— 

21 (A) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than two 

22 years after the date of the initial meeting of the 

23 Commission, the Commission shall submit a re24 port on the study carried out under this sub25 section to— 


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1 (i) the President; 

2 (ii) the Congress; 

3 (iii) the Attorney General of the 

4 United States; 

5 (iv) the Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services; 

7 (v) the Director of the Federal Bu8 reau of Prisons; 

9 (vi) the Administrator of the Office of 

10 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven11 tion; 

12 (vii) the chief executive of each State; 

13 and 

14 (viii) the head of the department of 

15 corrections of each State. 

16 (B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub17 paragraph (A) shall include— 

18 (i) the findings and conclusions of the 

19 Commission; 

20 (ii) the recommended national stand21 ards for reducing the use of solitary con22 finement described in subsection (e); and 

23 (iii) a summary of the materials relied 

24 on by the Commission in the preparation 

25 of the report. 


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1 (e) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the report sub3 mitted under subsection (d)(3), the Commission 

4 shall provide the Attorney General and the Secretary 

5 of Health and Human Services with recommended 

6 national standards for significantly reducing the use 

7 of solitary confinement in correctional facilities. 

8 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The information 

9 provided under paragraph (1) shall include rec10 ommended national standards relating to— 

11 (A) how authorities can progress toward 

12 significantly limiting the utilization of solitary 

13 confinement so that a prisoner or juvenile de14 tainee may be placed in solitary confinement 

15 only when the safety or security of the facility 

16 or another person is at imminent risk, during 

17 an ongoing disciplinary investigation concerning 

18 an adult prisoner, or to punish an adult pris19 oner for an extremely serious disciplinary in20 fraction; 

21 (B) methods that can be employed to en22 sure that the duration of solitary confinement 

23 of a prisoner or juvenile detainee at an institu24 tion can be limited to fewer than 30 days in 

25 any 45-day period, except in a case in which the 


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1 head of a correctional facility makes an individ2 ualized determination that prolonged solitary 

3 confinement of the prisoner or detainee for a 

4 serious disciplinary infraction is necessary for 

5 the order or security of the institution, or a 

6 prisoner or detainee requests such placement; 

7 (C) ensuring that prior to being classified, 

8 assigned, or subject to long-term solitary con9 finement, an adult prisoner shall be entitled to 

10 a meaningful hearing on the reason for and du11 ration of the confinement and have access to 

12 legal counsel for such hearings; 

13 (D) ensuring that indefinite sentencing of 

14 an adult prisoner to long-term solitary confine15 ment will not be allowed and that the prisoner 

16 will be afforded a meaningful review of the con17 finement at least once every 30 days that the 

18 prisoner remains in solitary confinement and 

19 that correctional facility officials must record 

20 and provide a transcript of the review pro21 ceedings for the prisoner under review to the 

22 prisoner or the prisoner’s designee; 

23 (E) ensuring that correctional facility offi24 cials design and implement programming that 

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1 tary confinement to earn placement in less re2 strictive housing through positive behavior; 

3 (F) limiting the use of involuntary solitary 

4 confinement for the purpose of protective cus5 tody solely because of a personal characteristic 

6 that makes the prisoner or juvenile detainee 

7 particularly vulnerable to harm, including age, 

8 gender identity, race, or religion; 

9 (G) ensuring that correctional facility offi10 cials improve access to mental health treatment 

11 for prisoners and juvenile detainees in solitary 

12 confinement; 

13 (H) ensuring that correctional facility offi14 cials work toward systems wherein prisoners 

15 and juvenile detainees diagnosed by a qualified 

16 mental health professional with a serious men17 tal illness are not held in long-term solitary 

18 confinement; 

19 (I) ensuring that correctional facility offi20 cials do all that is feasible to make certain that 

21 prisoners and juvenile detainees are not held in 

22 solitary confinement for any duration, except 

23 under extreme emergency circumstances; 

24 (J) ensuring that correctional facility offi25 cials develop alternative methods to manage 


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1 issues with prisoners and juvenile detainees 

2 other than solitary confinement; and 

3 (K) such other matters as may reasonably 

4 be related to the goal of reducing solitary con5 finement in correctional facilities. 

6 (3) LIMITATION.—The Commission shall not 

7 propose a recommended standard that would impose 

8 substantial additional costs compared to the costs 

9 presently expended by correctional facilities, and 

10 shall seek to propose standards that reduce the costs 

11 of incarceration at such facilities. 

12 (f) CONSULTATION WITH ACCREDITATION ORGANI13 ZATIONS.—In developing recommended national standards 

14 for the reduction of solitary confinement under subsection 

15 (e), the Commission shall consider any standards that 

16 have already been developed, or are being developed simul17 taneously to the deliberations of the Commission. The 

18 Commission shall consult with accreditation organizations 

19 responsible for the accreditation of correctional facilities 

20 that have developed or are developing standards related 

21 to solitary confinement. The Commission shall also consult 

22 with national associations representing the corrections 

23 profession, the legal profession, the medical profession, or 

24 any other pertinent professional body that has developed 

25 or is developing standards related to solitary confinement. 


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1 (g) HEARINGS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold 

3 public hearings. The Commission may hold such 

4 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take 

5 such testimony, and receive such evidence as the 

6 Commission considers advisable to carry out its du7 ties under this section. 

8 (2) WITNESS EXPENSES.—Witnesses requested 

9 to appear before the Commission shall be paid the 

10 same fees as are paid to witnesses under section 

11 1821 of title 28, United States Code. The per diem 

12 and mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid 

13 from funds appropriated to the Commission. 

14 (h) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL OR STATE AGEN15 CIES.—The Commission may secure directly from any 

16 Federal department or agency such information as the 

17 Commission considers necessary to carry out its duties 

18 under this section. The Commission may request the head 

19 of any State or local department or agency to furnish such 

20 information to the Commission. 

21 (i) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

22 (1) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 

23 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ24 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author25 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 


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1 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

2 away from their homes or regular places of business 

3 in the performance of service for the Commission. 

4 (2) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—With 

the affirmative vote of 2 5 ⁄3 of the Commission, any 

6 Federal Government employee, with the approval of 

7 the head of the appropriate Federal agency, may be 

8 detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, 

9 and such detail shall be without interruption or loss 

10 of civil service status, benefits, or privileges. 

11 (3) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER12 MITTENT SERVICES.—Upon the request of the Com13 mission, the Attorney General shall provide reason14 able and appropriate office space, supplies, and ad15 ministrative assistance. 

16 (j) CONTRACTS FOR RESEARCH.— 

17 (1) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE.—With a 

2 18 ⁄3 affirmative vote, the Commission may select non19 governmental researchers and experts to assist the 

20 Commission in carrying out its duties under this 

21 Act. The National Institute of Justice shall contract 

22 with the researchers and experts selected by the 

23 Commission to provide funding in exchange for their 

24 services. 


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1 (2) OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—Nothing in this 

2 subsection shall be construed to limit the ability of 

3 the Commission to enter into contracts with other 

4 entities or organizations for research necessary to 

5 carry out the duties of the Commission under this 

6 section. 

7 (k) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

8 on the date that is 60 days after the date on which the 

9 Commission submits the reports required by this section. 

10 (l) EXEMPTION.—The Commission shall be exempt 

11 from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

12 SEC. 4. ADOPTION AND EFFECT OF NATIONAL STANDARDS. 

13 (a) PUBLICATION OF STANDARDS.— 

14 (1) FINAL RULE.—Not later than two years 

15 after receiving the report specified in section 

16 (3)(d)(3), the Attorney General shall publish a final 

17 rule adopting national standards for the reduction of 

18 solitary confinement in correctional facilities. 

19 (2) INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT.—The standards 

20 referred to in paragraph (1) shall be based upon the 

21 independent judgment of the Attorney General, after 

22 giving consideration to the recommended national 

23 standards provided by the Commission under section 

24 3(e), and being informed by such data, opinions, and 


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1 proposals that the Attorney General determines to 

2 be appropriate to consider. 

3 (3) LIMITATION.—The Attorney General shall 

4 not establish a national standard under this section 

5 that would impose substantial additional costs com6 pared to the costs presently expended by Federal 

7 and State correctional systems. The Attorney Gen8 eral may, however, provide a list of improvements 

9 for consideration by correctional facilities. 

10 (4) TRANSMISSION TO STATES.—Not later than 

11 90 days after publishing the final rule under para12 graph (1), the Attorney General shall transmit the 

13 national standards adopted under that paragraph to 

14 the chief executive of each State, the head of the de15 partment of corrections of each State, the head of 

16 the department of juvenile justice of each State, and 

17 to the appropriate authorities in those units of local 

18 government who oversee operations in one or more 

19 correctional facilities. 

20 (b) APPLICABILITY TO FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRIS21 ONS.—The national standards referred to in subsection 

22 (a) shall apply to the Federal Bureau of Prisons imme23 diately upon adoption of the final rule under subsection 

24 (a)(1). 

25 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in the second fis2 cal year that begins after the date on which the At3 torney General issues a the final rule under sub4 section (a)(1), in order to be eligible to receive a 

5 grant under a program identified by the Attorney 

6 General under paragraph (2), the chief executive of 

7 a State or unit of local government seeking such a 

8 grant shall submit to the Attorney general a certifi9 cation that the State or local government has adopt10 ed, and is in full compliance with the national stand11 ards described in subsection (a)(1). 

12 (2) COVERED GRANT PROGRAMS.—The Attor13 ney General shall identify grant programs carried 

14 out by the Department of Justice which provide 

15 funding to States and units of local government for 

16 the construction, maintenance, or operation of cor17 rectional facilities, and make a list of such programs 

18 publicly available. 

19 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

20 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

21 shall apply: 

22 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 

23 General’’ means the Attorney General of the United 

24 States. 


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1 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the National Solitary Confinement Study and 

3 Reform Commission established under section 3 of 

4 this Act. 

5 (3) LONG-TERM.—The term ‘‘long-term’’ means 

6 any period lasting more than 30 days, consecutive or 

7 nonconsecutive, in any 45-day period. 

8 (4) QUALIFIED MENTAL HEALTH PROFES9 SIONAL.—The term ‘‘qualified mental health profes10 sional’’ means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psy11 chiatric social worker, licensed professional coun12 selor, psychiatric nurse, or another individual who, 

13 by virtue of education, credentials, and experience, is 

14 permitted by law to evaluate and provide mental 

15 health care. 

16 (5) SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS.—The term ‘‘se17 rious mental illness’’ means a substantial disorder 

18 that— 

19 (A) significantly impairs judgment, behav20 ior, or capacity to recognize reality or cope with 

21 the ordinary demands of life; and 

22 (B) is manifested by substantial pain or 

23 disability, the status of being actively suicidal, 

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1 sonality disorder that results in significant 

2 functional impairment. 

3 (6) SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.—The term ‘‘soli4 tary confinement’’ means confinement of a prisoner 

5 or juvenile detainee in a cell or other place, alone or 

6 with other persons, for approximately 22 hours or 

7 more per day with severely restricted activity, move8 ment, and social interaction, which is separate from 

9 the general population of that correctional facility. 

10 (7) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘cor11 rectional facility’’ means a Federal, State, local, or 

12 privately run prison, jail, or juvenile detention facil13 ity. 

Æ 


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