I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4488 

To develop and implement national standards for the use of solitary 

confinement in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself and Mr. WALKER) 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 ‘‘Solitary Confinement 

5 Study and Reform Act of 2019’’. 

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 the minority leader of the House 

10 of Representatives, and the majority leader and mi11 nority 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 may be placed 

14 in solitary confinement only under extreme 

15 emergency circumstances, as a last resort, for 

16 as short a time as possible, subject to inde17 pendent review, and pursuant to the authoriza18 tion of a competent authority; 

19 (B) methods that can be employed to en20 sure that the duration of solitary confinement 

21 of a prisoner at an institution can be limited to 

22 no more than 15 consecutive days in a 60-day 

23 period, except that if the head of a correctional 

24 facility makes an individualized determination 

25 that the prisoner cannot be safely returned to 


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1 the general population, the head of the correc2 tional facility may continue to segregate the 

3 prisoner from the general population without 

4 the use of solitary confinement and in accord5 ance with the United Nations Standard Min6 imum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners; 

7 (C) ensuring that prior to being classified, 

8 assigned, or subject to long-term segregation, a 

9 prisoner shall be entitled to a meaningful hear10 ing on the reason for and duration of the con11 finement and have access to legal counsel for 

12 such hearings; 

13 (D) ensuring that indefinite sentencing of 

14 a prisoner to long-term segregation will not be 

15 allowed and that the prisoner will be afforded 

16 a meaningful review of the segregation at least 

17 once every 30 days that the prisoner remains in 

18 segregation and that correctional facility offi19 cials must record and provide a transcript of 

20 the review proceedings for the prisoner under 

21 review to the prisoner or the prisoner’s des22 ignee; 

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

25 allows prisoners subject to long-term segregaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4488.IH H4488

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1 tion to earn placement in less restrictive hous2 ing through positive behavior; 

3 (F) ensuring that protective custody and 

4 other custody designations designed to protect 

5 vulnerable prisoners, regardless of the reason 

6 for vulnerability, are not characterized by soli7 tary confinement or other type of isolation con8 ditions, and that prisoners placed in protective 

9 custody have access to programs, privileges, 

10 education, and work opportunities commensu11 rate with general population prisoners to the 

12 extent possible; 

13 (G) ensuring that correctional facility offi14 cials improve access to mental health treatment 

15 for prisoners in solitary confinement; 

16 (H) ensuring that correctional facility offi17 cials work toward systems wherein prisoners di18 agnosed by a qualified mental health profes19 sional with a serious mental illness are not held 

20 in long-term solitary confinement; 

21 (I) ensuring that correctional facility offi22 cials do all that is feasible to make certain that 

23 prisoners are not held in solitary confinement 

24 for any duration; 


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1 (J) ensuring that correctional facility offi2 cials develop alternative methods to manage 

3 issues with prisoners other than solitary con4 finement; 

5 (K) ensuring that correctional facility offi6 cers do all that is feasible to make certain that 

7 prisoners with mental health, physical, or cog8 nitive disabilities are not held in solitary con9 finement for any duration; 

10 (L) ensuring that correctional facility offi11 cers do all that is feasible to make certain that 

12 pregnant and post-partum women are not held 

13 in solitary confinement for any duration; 

14 (M) ensuring that correctional facility offi15 cers work towards systems that limit the cir16 cumstances and conditions under which juve17 niles are placed in solitary confinement, in com18 pliance with section 5043 of title 18, United 

19 States Code; and 

20 (N) such other matters as may reasonably 

21 be related to the goal of reducing solitary con22 finement in correctional facilities. 

23 (3) LIMITATION.—The Commission shall not 

24 propose a recommended standard that would impose 

25 substantial additional costs compared to the costs 


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1 presently expended by correctional facilities, and 

2 shall seek to propose standards that reduce the costs 

3 of incarceration at such facilities. 

4 (f) CONSULTATION WITH ACCREDITATION ORGANI5 ZATIONS.—In developing recommended national standards 

6 for the reduction of solitary confinement under subsection 

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

8 have already been developed, or are being developed simul9 taneously to the deliberations of the Commission. The 

10 Commission shall consult with accreditation organizations 

11 responsible for the accreditation of correctional facilities 

12 that have developed or are developing standards related 

13 to solitary confinement. The Commission shall also consult 

14 with national associations representing the corrections 

15 profession, the legal profession, the medical profession, or 

16 any other pertinent professional body that has developed 

17 or is developing standards related to solitary confinement. 

18 (g) HEARINGS.— 

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

20 public hearings. The Commission may hold such 

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

22 such testimony, and receive such evidence as the 

23 Commission considers advisable to carry out its du24 ties under this section. 


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1 (2) WITNESS EXPENSES.—Witnesses requested 

2 to appear before the Commission shall be paid the 

3 same fees as are paid to witnesses under section 

4 1821 of title 28, United States Code. The per diem 

5 and mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid 

6 from funds appropriated to the Commission. 

7 (h) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL OR STATE AGEN8 CIES.—The Commission may secure directly from any 

9 Federal department or agency such information as the 

10 Commission considers necessary to carry out its duties 

11 under this section. The Commission may request the head 

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

13 information to the Commission. 

14 (i) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

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

16 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ17 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author18 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

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

20 away from their homes or regular places of business 

21 in the performance of service for the Commission. 

22 (2) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—With 

the affirmative vote of 2 23 ⁄3 of the Commission, any 

24 Federal Government employee, with the approval of 

25 the head of the appropriate Federal agency, may be 


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1 detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, 

2 and such detail shall be without interruption or loss 

3 of civil service status, benefits, or privileges. 

4 (3) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER5 MITTENT SERVICES.—Upon the request of the Com6 mission, the Attorney General shall provide reason7 able and appropriate office space, supplies, and ad8 ministrative assistance. 

9 (j) CONTRACTS FOR RESEARCH.— 

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

2 11 ⁄3 affirmative vote, the Commission may select non12 governmental researchers and experts to assist the 

13 Commission in carrying out its duties under this 

14 Act. The National Institute of Justice shall contract 

15 with the researchers and experts selected by the 

16 Commission to provide funding in exchange for their 

17 services. 

18 (2) OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection shall be construed to limit the ability of 

20 the Commission to enter into contracts with other 

21 entities or organizations for research necessary to 

22 carry out the duties of the Commission under this 

23 section. 


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1 (k) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

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

3 Commission submits the reports required by this section. 

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

5 from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

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

7 (a) PUBLICATION OF STANDARDS.— 

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

9 after receiving the report specified in section 

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

11 rule adopting national standards for the reduction of 

12 solitary confinement in correctional facilities. 

13 (2) INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT.—The standards 

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

15 independent judgment of the Attorney General, after 

16 giving consideration to the recommended national 

17 standards provided by the Commission under section 

18 3(e), and being informed by such data, opinions, and 

19 proposals that the Attorney General determines to 

20 be appropriate to consider. 

21 (3) LIMITATION.—The Attorney General shall 

22 not establish a national standard under this section 

23 that would impose substantial additional costs com24 pared to the costs presently expended by Federal 

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1 eral may, however, provide a list of improvements 

2 for consideration by correctional facilities. 

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

4 90 days after publishing the final rule under para5 graph (1), the Attorney General shall transmit the 

6 national standards adopted under that paragraph to 

7 the chief executive of each State, the head of the de8 partment of corrections of each State, the head of 

9 the department of juvenile justice of each State, and 

10 to the appropriate authorities in those units of local 

11 government who oversee operations in one or more 

12 correctional facilities. 

13 (b) APPLICABILITY TO FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRIS14 ONS.—The national standards referred to in subsection 

15 (a) shall apply to the Federal Bureau of Prisons imme16 diately upon adoption of the final rule under subsection 

17 (a)(1). 

18 (c) EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSIST19 ANCE GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING REDUCTION.—Begin20 ning in the second fiscal year that begins after the date 

21 on which the Attorney General issues the final rule under 

22 subsection (a)(1), in the case of a State or unit of local 

23 government that is not in compliance with the national 

24 standards described in subsection (a)(1), the Attorney 

25 General shall reduce by 5 percent the amount that such 


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1 State or unit of local government would otherwise receive 

2 under subpart 1 of part E of the Omnibus Crime and Safe 

3 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

6 shall apply: 

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

8 General’’ means the Attorney General of the United 

9 States. 

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

11 means the National Solitary Confinement Study and 

12 Reform Commission established under section 3 of 

13 this Act. 

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

15 any period lasting more than 15 consecutive days in 

16 a 60-day period. 

17 (4) QUALIFIED MENTAL HEALTH PROFES18 SIONAL.—The term ‘‘qualified mental health profes19 sional’’ means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psy20 chiatric social worker, licensed professional coun21 selor, psychiatric nurse, or another individual who, 

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

23 permitted by law to evaluate and provide mental 

24 health care. 


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1 (5) SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS.—The term ‘‘se2 rious mental illness’’ means a substantial disorder 

3 that— 

4 (A) significantly impairs judgment, behav5 ior, or capacity to recognize reality or cope with 

6 the ordinary demands of life; and 

7 (B) is manifested by substantial pain or 

8 disability, the status of being actively suicidal, 

9 a severe cognitive disorder that results in sig10 nificant functional impairment, or a severe per11 sonality disorder that results in significant 

12 functional impairment. 

13 (6) SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.—The term ‘‘soli14 tary confinement’’ means confinement of a prisoner 

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

16 with other persons, for approximately 22 hours or 

17 more per day with severely restricted activity, move18 ment, and social interaction, which is separate from 

19 the general population of that correctional facility. 

20 (7) SEGREGATION.—The term ‘‘segregation’’ 

21 means housing of a prisoner separate from the gen22 eral population of a correctional facility in which 

23 movement, activity, and social interaction may be re24 stricted. 


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1 (8) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘cor2 rectional facility’’ means a Federal, State, local, or 

3 privately run prison, jail, or juvenile detention facil4 ity. 

Æ 


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