II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 866

To reform prison litigation, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25 (legislative day, MAY 15), 1995

Mr. DOLE (for himself, Mr. KYL, and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To reform prison litigation, 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 ‘‘Prison Litigation

5 Reform Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROCEEDINGS IN FORMA PAUPERIS.

7 (a) FILING FEES.—Section 1915 of title 28, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) Any’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘(a)(1) Subject to subsection (b), any’’;

12 (B) by striking ‘‘fees and’’;
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘makes affidavit’’ and in2 serting ‘‘submits an affidavit’’;

3 (D) by striking ‘‘such costs’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘such fees’’;

5 (E) by striking ‘‘he’’ each place it appears

6 and inserting ‘‘the person’’;

7 (F) by adding immediately after paragraph

8 (1), the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(2) A prisoner of a Federal, State, or local institu10 tion seeking to bring a civil action or appeal a judgment

11 in a civil action or proceeding, without prepayment of fees

12 or security therefor, in addition to filing the affidavit filed

13 under paragraph (1), shall submit a certified copy of the

14 trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent)

15 for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately pre16 ceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal, ob17 tained from the appropriate official of each institution at

18 which the prisoner is or was confined.’’; and

19 (E) by striking ‘‘An appeal’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘(3) An appeal’’;

21 (2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d),

22 and (e) as subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), respec23 tively;

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow25 ing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if a prisoner

2 brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis,

3 the prisoner shall be required to pay the full amount of

4 a filing fee. The court shall assess, and when funds exist,

5 collect, as a partial payment of any court fees required

6 by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the

7 greater of—

8 ‘‘(A) the average monthly deposits to the pris9 oner’s account; or

10 ‘‘(B) the average monthly balance in the pris11 oner’s account for the 6-month period immediately

12 preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of ap13 peal.

14 ‘‘(2) After payment of the initial partial filing fee,

15 the prisoner shall be required to make monthly payments

16 of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited

17 to the prisoner’s account. The agency having custody of

18 the prisoner shall forward payments from the prisoner’s

19 account to the clerk of the court each time the amount

20 in the account exceeds $10 until the filing fees are paid.

21 ‘‘(3) In no event shall the filing fee collected exceed

22 the amount of fees permitted by statute for the commence23 ment of a civil action or an appeal of a civil action or

24 criminal judgment.
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1 ‘‘(4) In no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from

2 bringing a civil action or appealing a civil or criminal judg3 ment for the reason that the prisoner is unable to pay

4 the initial partial filing fee.’’;

5 (4) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para6 graph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of this sec7 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) and the

8 prepayment of any partial filing fee as may be re9 quired under subsection (b)’’; and

10 (5) by amending subsection (e), as redesignated

11 by paragraph (2), to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(e) The court may request an attorney to represent

13 any person unable to employ counsel, and shall dismiss

14 the case at any time if the allegation of poverty is untrue,

15 or if the court determines that the action or appeal is friv16 olous or malicious, or fails to state a claim on which relief

17 may be granted.’’.

18 (b) COSTS.—Section 1915(e) of title 28, United

19 States Code (as redesignated by subsection (a)(2)), is

20 amended)—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(f) Judgment’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘(f)(1) Judgment’’;

23 (2) by striking ‘‘such cases’’ and inserting ‘‘pro24 ceedings under this section’’;
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1 (3) by striking ‘‘cases’’ and inserting ‘‘proceed2 ings’’; and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(2)(A) If the judgment against a prisoner includes

6 the payment of costs under this subsection, the prisoner

7 shall be required to pay the full amount of the costs or8 dered.

9 ‘‘(B) The prisoner shall be required to make pay10 ments for costs under this subsection in the same manner

11 as is provided for filing fees under subsection (a)(2).

12 ‘‘(C) In no event shall the costs collected exceed the

13 amount of the costs ordered by the court.’’.

14 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL SCREENING.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 123 of title 28, United

16 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1915

17 the following new section:

18 ‘‘§ 1915A. Screening

19 ‘‘(a) SCREENING.—The court shall review, before

20 docketing if feasible or, in any event, as soon as prac21 ticable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in

22 which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity

23 or officer or employee of a governmental entity.
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1 ‘‘(b) GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL.—On review, the

2 court shall dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the

3 complaint, if the complaint—

4 ‘‘(1) fails to state a claim upon which relief

5 may be granted; or

6 ‘‘(2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant

7 that is immune from such relief.

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

9 ‘prisoner’ means a person that is serving a sentence follow10 ing conviction of a crime or is being held in custody pend11 ing trial or sentencing.’’.

12 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

13 chapter 123 of title 28, United States Code, is amended

14 by inserting after the item relating to section 1915 the

15 following new item:

‘‘1915A. Screening.’’.

16 SEC. 4. FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS.

17 Section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)’’;

20 and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(2) No person convicted of a felony who is incarcer23 ated while awaiting sentencing or while serving a sentence

24 may bring a civil action against the United States or an

25 agency, officer, or employee of the Government, for mental
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1 or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a

2 prior showing of physical injury.’’.

3 SEC. 5. CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.

4 The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (42

5 U.S.C. 1997 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

6 7 the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 7A. LIMITATION ON RECOVERY.

8 ‘‘No civil action may be brought against the United

9 States by an adult convicted of a crime confined in a jail,

10 prison, or other correctional facility, for mental or emo11 tional injury suffered while in custody without a prior

12 showing of physical injury.’’.

13 SEC. 6. EARNED RELEASE CREDIT OR GOOD TIME CREDIT

14 REVOCATION.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 123 of title 28, United

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow17 ing new section:

18 ‘‘§ 1932. Revocation of earned release credit

19 ‘‘In a civil action brought by an adult convicted of

20 a crime and confined in a Federal correctional facility, the

21 court may order the revocation of earned good time credit

22 (or the institutional equivalent) if—

23 ‘‘(1) the court finds that—

24 ‘‘(A) the claim was filed for a malicious

25 purpose;
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1 ‘‘(B) the claim was filed solely to harass

2 the party against which it was filed; or

3 ‘‘(C) the claimant testifies falsely or other4 wise knowingly presents false evidence or infor5 mation to the court; or

6 ‘‘(2) if the Attorney General determines that

7 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) has

8 been met and recommends revocation of earned good

9 time credit to the court.’’.

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap11 ter 123 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

12 inserting after the item relating to section 1931 the follow13 ing:

‘‘1931. Revocation of earned release credit.’’.

14 SEC. 7. EXHAUSTION REQUIREMENT.

15 Section 7(a)(1) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized

16 Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(a)(1)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘in any action brought’’ and in18 serting ‘‘no action shall be brought’’;

19 (2) by striking ‘‘the court shall’’ and all that

20 follows through ‘‘require exhaustion of’’ and insert

21 ‘‘until’’; and

22 (3) by inserting ‘‘and exhausted’’ after ‘‘avail23 able’’.

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